Enough
by Lightblade1121
Summary: Lincoln ran away from home and was the taken care of by his sisters' friends. But there was something else going on than just keeping him from his family. Something dark. This story was requested by crafordbrain17
1. Chapter 1: Heading Out

Lincoln Loud was sitting in the living room by himself, staring blankly at the TV as he was lost in his train of thought. He was thinking about how things worked in this household, having to deal with his sister, along with everything he's been put through with them or because of them. And in the end of it all, things don't always seem to go his way, and he felt like either himself or his sisters were mostly to blame. He suddenly had to put those thoughts aside as he heard his sister, Lori, calling out to him, saying "Hey, Lincoln? Can you come out here? We need some help."

"...Coming.", said Lincoln. Heading outside, Lincoln found his sisters, Lori, Lynn, and Lola working on some kind of...thing. A pully system to be exact. Lynn and Lola were holding onto a rope while Lori was checking on what they were lifting. It was some kind of case and it looked extremely heavy.

"Uh, what's going on?", Lincoln asked. "We just need help keeping this thing off the ground while Lori takes a look at it.", said his sister, Lola, who was straining to hold onto the rope. "But, THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS!"

"Oh, calm down.", said Lori. "That's why I asked for Lincoln to come help you hold onto the rope."

"Me?" Lincoln questioned. "I'm not sure if that's a-"

Lori interrupted, saying "Lincoln, no one else is home right now, and this is taking forever. Help us out now, and it'll be over before you know it."

"...Alright then.", Lincoln sighed. Soon after, Lincoln positioned himself in between Lynn and Lola, holding onto the rope tightly with all his strength.

"Try not to mess up.", said Lynn. "We've worked months on that thing."

"What is it?", Lincoln asked.

"Oh, just a new case to put in the house.", Lola replied. "We've spent months working on it, and now, we gotta find a way to put inside."

Lincoln started asking"And, how is a pully system supposed to-" Suddenly, Lincoln could feel like his nose was getting tickled, causing him to get a little sniffy. Lynn and Lola knew where this was going, and panicked, knowing if Lincoln sneezed, he'd bump into them and they'd loose their grip.

Lola yelled out, "Lincoln, don't you dare sneeze!", followed by Lynn saying, "Pinch your nose our something!"

Thinking quickly, Lincoln his nose as best he could, and felt the urge to sneeze go down. Relieved by this, both Lynn and Lola let out sighs. But suddenly, Lynn sneezed, causing her to lose her grip and fall backwards, bumping into Lincoln, who bumped into Lola, who also lost her grip. The only one who didn't let go as Lincoln, who couldn't pull the rope on his own and it ends up pulling him upward as the case ends up falling down to ground. Lori, Lynn and Lola were panicking as the case rattles for a few moments, but then stops and everything seems to be okay, which makes them relieved once more. Except, Lincoln falling down and landing on the case, which then shatter beneath him, leaving the three girls twitching to see months of work ruined...

"Ow.", groaned Lincoln.

Lori yelled, "Lincoln, look what you did!"

"We spent months working on that thing!", Lola continued.

Lincoln replied, "I'm sorry, I was just trying to help."

"Maybe you should be more careful next time! Now, we gotta start all over!", Lynn growled.

"He won't get to help next time, Lynn.", says Lori. "Seeing how's bound to mess up!"

"Hey, you're the ones who asked me for help!" Lincoln argued. "Plus, Lynn's the one who sneezed and made herself and Lola lose her grip!"

"Don't try to put this all on me! I'm not the one breaking things!", Lynn said back.

"Oh, come on!", yelled Lincoln. "You're not even asking if I'm alright or not! I could've been seriously hurt!"

"Not everything has to be about you Lincoln.", Lola said, snobbishly.

"...Oh, forget it.", Lincoln said. "There's no point talking to you guys."

With that said, Lincoln storms back inside and starts heading up the stairs. As he did, he said to himself, "I can't stand those three sometimes. Lori's always angry, Lynn's prick in my side, and Lola's just a huge brat! They ruin there own things and blame me for it."

He then heard some footsteps coming from behind him, and turn to see Lynn walking towards him.

"Hey, Lincoln.", said Lynn.

Lincoln replied, saying "Lynn, I told you, I don't want to talk you right now."

"Can you chill?", asked Lynn. "Look, what I'm trying to say is sorry for going at you like that. But you did ruin all our hard work."

"How is that an apology?" complained Lincoln. "All of you went against me and it wasn't even my fault! It was an accident, and you couldn't even understand that!"

"Okay, there's no reason for you to be lashing out like this!", argued Lynn

Lincoln argued back, saying "Yeah, actually, there kinda is! You guys take me for granted and you don't even see it!"

"When have we ever-?", Lynn started, but stopped herself "...Wait a minute."

"That's what I thought.", said Lincoln, as he continued up the stairs.

"Okay, we may take you for granted, but we treat you fairly.", Lynn replied.

"Really?", Lincoln said. "'Cause half the time, that doesn't even seem like the case to me."

"Okay, now you're just getting mad over nothing!", said Lynn, forcefully turning around. "We treat you fairly, Lincoln; we care for you, we wouldn't keep you around if we didn't."

"You hardly seem to be the caring type, Lynn!", growled Lincoln.

Lynn argued, saying, "That's not the point, Lincoln!" It was then that Lola, who was still peeved, came in to tell Lincoln something. She said to him, "Hey, Lincoln! Lori says you should help clean up the mess you made!" Hearing how he was responsible didn't sit well Lincoln, who continued to grow angry, as he yelled out "Oh, shut it, Lola! I've had enough with your bratty attitude!" That left Lynn and Lola surprised by Lincoln's anger. But it didn't stop Lynn from talking back, saying her already enraged brother, "Watch it, Lincoln! You don't get to talk to Lola like that! And maybe, if you weren't such dead weight, we wouldn't have to start over because of you!"

"...That's what you think of me, Lynn? Dead Weight?!", said Lincoln with a twitching eye.

Lynn soon realized what she just said and regretted it instantly. She was about to tell Lincoln that she was sorry for saying that, but suddenly, her vision turned black and white as she felt pain on her face and she felt herself flying across the hallway. Lincoln punches her so hard that she ends up slamming onto the door at the end of the hall. This left Lola shocked, as she quickly went over to look at her sister, who now had a bruised eye and a nose that is starting to drip blood. Then, Lori came in, saying, "Hey, what is taking so-?..Oh, gosh, what happened!"

"Lincoln punched Lynn in the face!", screamed Lola.

Hearing this left Lori shocked, as she didn't expect Lincoln to have punched Lynn. This also left her angry at him, as she scowled at him and then went to go check up on Lynn. Lincoln was taking a look at his fist, seeing the blood stained on it, wide-eyed, as if he just woke to realize what he just did. He looked over to his sisters, than back at his fist, clenching it tightly as tears formed in his eyes. Without warning, Lincoln went into his room, slamming the door behind him and locking it, hoping no one would be able to come in. He sat on his bed, let the tears run down his eyes, feeling like he only had himself to blame. Why did he get so angry? He loved his sisters, but...now, it feels like he just can't stand them. He's had about enough of them, leaving him with only one thing to say...

"I need to get out of here."


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting New Friends

It was night time, and the entire neighborhood seemed to be asleep. It was perfect, as Lincoln was getting ready to sneak out. He had packed up what he would need, such a food, water and a few handheld games in case he gets bored. Now, he had already found a way to get out of the house without anyone noticing, he was gonna jump through the window. Now, that may seem a little bit crazy, but he had it all planned out before he actually decided to go with his plan. Putting on a jacket and his backpack, Lincoln began to open his window and squeeze his head through, holding onto the edge as he looked down at the bottom as saw the mattress conveniently left down there by his father.

"Welp, here's go nothing.", Lincoln said to himself. Taking a deep breathe, Lincoln had let go of the ledge and began to fall. Despite the mattress breaking his fall, it wasn't a very soft landing. Getting up, he said, "Yep, totally worth it." As he dust himself and began to walk away, he took one last look at his house before turning his back to it.

"Don't think you're smart enough to keep things in check here." he said. "Because I'm not doing it for you anymore."

And with that said, Lincoln walked away from his house, putting it behind him. A few minutes later, Lincoln found himself on a bench, wide awake after 9 o'clock. He struggled to stay awake, as it wasn't a good idea for a boy his age to stay awake this late. But as he nearly fell asleep, some familiar voices got his open again, saying to him, "Lincoln? Is that you?" Jolting up, the boy saw three recognizable silhouettes in front of him, the one in front of the others having a ponytail and looking a little wide around the waist. As for the others, one of them having long pointed at the hair and the other having a shorter ponytail. Lincoln recognized them as Carlota, Carol and Dana, friends of his sisters.

"What are you girls doing here this late?", said Lincoln.

"We should be asking you that." Carol replied. "Why are you out here, Lincoln?"

"I...kinda ran away from home.", said Lincoln awkwardly.

"What?!" Dana yelled out. "Why would you do that?"

"I just...I had to get out of there.", Lincoln said. "I just didn't want to deal with my sisters at the moment."

"Well, I guess that's understandable.", said Carol.

Carlota and Dana then looked at Carol with an eyebrow raised. Carol said to them, "What? I speak from experience."

"Even so, it's not safe for you to be out here on your own, Lincoln.", said Carlota.

"I'm not going back.", Lincoln argued. "Not now."

"Hmm...alright." Carlota said "Why don't you just stay with us for a while?"

"Yeah, we were even heading here anyway.", Dana added on.

Lincoln caved in, saying"...Fine." As they sat by the tired boy, they do their best to fit in as the bench doesn't seem to have much space for all of them...

"Move over, Carlota!", Dana complained.

Carlota argued, "There's not too much room!

"Just try to squeeze in!", Carol yelled.

"Uhh...", said Lincoln, feeling awkard. Lincoln can help but notice something was different about Carlota. He then asks her, "Um, Carlota? It might just be me, but, are you looking a little..."

"'Fat'?", Carol added.

"'Thick'?", Dana piled on.

"I was gonna say 'plump'.", said Lincoln.

Carol and Dana due their best to hold in their laughter while Carlota growls at them.

"It's just because I notice your hips look wider than usual.", Lincoln said.

"How could you even-?", Carlota started with, but then said, "Yes, I have gained a few pounds, but only because I may or not have been visiting a few all-you-can-eat buffets in Great Lake City."

"Which she had yet to tell us about.", said Dana.

"Which is kinda the reason we're out here.", added in Carol. We planned on going to one of those restaurants."

Lincoln then says, "I didn't think you would be into that."

"Well, they just had the most amazing kind of food you could ever taste." Carlota says, naming some food. "There was cake, ribs, pasta, lasagna, pasta and turkey salads. They even had some pizza!"

"Mmm...sounds delicious.", Lincoln's mouth waters.

"Well, it's veggie pizza mostly.", Carlota said. "Or just plain cheese. Speaking of which, they usually just have cheesecakes for dessert. I like the cherry flavored one."

"So, were you guys planning to go to this place?", Lincoln asked.

"It's in the city, Lincoln.", said Carol. "Nah, we were planning on going clubbing tonight. Since you're sticking with us, you might as well come along."

Lincoln asked, "They let minors get into cubs?"

"Well, the one we're going to in particular, yeah, kinda.", Dana answered.

"I don't know. I'm not even sure how I'm gonna stay awa...", Lincoln struggles to say before he begins to dose off. As Lincoln slowly went to sleep, Carlota gently tapped his head and he jolt up wide awake. The she says to him, "Yeah, we'll get you some coffee, while we're at it."

"That would be nice.", yawned Lincoln. And with that settled, they got up on their feet and made their to the club. Unfortunately, they were practically having to drag Lincoln, due to to the boy being half asleep at this point. Dana couldn't help but joke, saying, "Hey Carlota, maybe this walk will help you to shed a few pounds."

"Notice that I'm ignoring you.", Carlota said, annoyed by Dana's remark.

Lincoln then asked, "So, where is this club anyway?"

"Funny thing, it's actually somewhere on the edge of town, connecting the woods.", Carol answered.

"Why would a club be there?", continued to ask Lincoln.

"It's new." says Dana. "This is gonna be the first time we'll be checking it out." This left Lincoln unsure about the place they were talking about, as they route they walked was leading them out of town. Several minutes later, they were on the edge of town and Lincoln could see a building seeming to stick out from trees that lead into the woods.

"That's the place?", Lincoln questioned.

"Yep." Carlota answered, "It's all anyone's been talking about."

"Not what you were expecting, Lincoln?", Dana asked him.

Lincoln then answered, "Not even a little."

"Get used to it soon." said Carol "We'll be here until dawn."

"...Alright." Lincoln said tiredly. "If you say so." And with that, they all headed towards the front door...


	3. Chapter 3: The Gang's All Here

As they headed to the door, Dana gave it a knock and the slider on it opened up to show a pair of eyes looking down at the four.

"Who is it?", said the Bouncer, not sounding at all friendly.

"Three ladies and one young man.", Carol answering the nice man. The eyes looked down at Lincoln, who felt some swept coming down his forehead.

"...Alright, come on in.", the Bouncer allowed. The door opened, then Carol and Dana headed in first. But before Lincoln and Carlota could go in as well, Carlota pulls Lincoln aside, at means of talking to him She says to him, "Now Lincoln, this place is gonna be new to both of us. So don't feel bad if you're gonna be a little intimidated."

"I'll be fine, Carlota.", Lincoln says confidently. "You don't have to worry about me."

"Alright, if you say so." Carlota says with relief. "Try to have the time of your life in there. Lord knows I'm going to!" With that said, Carlota excitingly rushes in as Lincoln follows behind. Inside, the place was way bigger than how it looked outside. There were people dancing, a huge food buffet, a few arcade games and even a stage that was meant for the president. All this stuff made Lincoln feel small as he walked in with a nervous small and sweat come down his head. He says to himself. "Sweet, merciful God. What am I doing?" From what he could see, there was a lot of people he's met from here and there. Mostly either friends of his sisters or just from their school. It wasn't long before they all had their eyes on him, recognizing him right off the bat.

Shannon asks, "Is that Lincoln?"

Then Rex continued, saying, "What's he doing here?"

"Shouldn't he be in bed right now?", Lyberti then said. Not wanting to rouse to much attention, Lincoln headed over to the bar, ordering himself a cup of coffee as he notice that everyone was still looking at him in curiosity. He then says awkwardly, "Um...hi?"

"Hey, what are you doing here?", asked Parvana.

Lincoln takes a sip of his coffee, saying. "You guys really want to know?"

"YES!", yelled out everyone.

"...Okay.", sheepishly said Lincoln. "I...kinda ran away from home." Every one of them were shocked to hear that an eleven year old boy had ran away from home. They all wasted no time, barking him with the question "why?"

"...It's all because I just couldn't deal with my sisters at the moment and I just needed to get away from them.", cried out Lincoln,

"Doesn't really sound like a good reason for you to want to run away.", argued Shannon.

"Yeah, even we had a feeling that you were keeping something from us when you told us that.", Carol added on.

"Want to share, Lincoln?", asked Dana.

Lincoln answers, "Not really.", and continues to sip his coffe.

"Come on.", complained Carlota. "You're amongst friends here." Seeing how they were not gonna stop bugging him about it, Lincoln let out a heavy sigh and confronted all of them."

"Okay...", Lincoln started. "The full reason as to why I ran away was because I felt like I wasn't really wanted there."

Dana then asked, "What on earth lead you to think that?"

"My sister, Lynn, called me 'deadweight'.", Lincoln said, growing upset.

Hearing that made all of them start to feel bad for the little boy as he turned away and continued to drink his coffee. It was then that Carol called to everybody to come with her to the stage. But, she then pushed Shannon aside, asking her to go talk to Lincoln while they think of something. Meanwhile, Lincoln decided to look around the club, see if there's anything left to explore. But as he was about to continue, Shannon pulled him aside and began to talk to him. All the while, Lincoln noticed something different about Shannon, though he couldn't yet put his finger on it. He then asks her, "Did you do something with your hair?" It was then that Shannon looked up see her new hairband with a flower on the left side.

"Huh? Oh, yeah.", answered Shannon. "A little. I was going for a bit of a new style."

"How come?", Lincoln continued to ask.

"I think it helps to complete my look.", Shannon answered. "Just wanted to...express myself a little bit more."

Lincoln gave her an awkward smile and then there was some awkward silence between the two.

"So...your sister really called you 'deadweight'?", asked Shannon.

Lincoln answered, "Yep. And I punched her in the face for it."

Shannon then asked, "Was it really worth having to run away from home?"

"You don't know how bad it gets.", Lincoln said.

"Well, not all your sisters treat so badly, right?", Shannon continued ask.

Lincoln tells her,"...No. But, Lori, Lynn, Lola, those three drive me crazy. Lori's a huge prick in all our butts who acts like a control freak, Lola's a spoiled brat who thinks she can have it all, and Lynn...I once thought Lori was the worst out my sisters, but now I see that Lynn fills that category easily. It makes me regret that I didn't run away, after all the crap she put me through!"

"Easy Lincoln.", Shannon says, trying to calm him down. "All that's understandable, but-"

"But what? Should I forgive her?", Lincoln then questioned. "Yeah, that'll be the day."

With that, Lincoln left Shannon, who tried to reach out to him, but failed. He then continued on exploring the rest of the club, and soon found himself at the buffet table. So many delicious looking foods just calling out to him. Despite how late it was, he felt it wasn't a problem just one bite.

"You know, you shouldn't really be eating at this hour.", another familiar voice told the boy.

Startled by another familiar voice, Lincoln turned around to see Sam, and next to her was Mazzy...

"You guys know about this place too?", Lincoln asked them.

Mazzy replied, "Yeah, just about everyone in town knows."

Sam added, "Well, almost everyone."

"Yeah, I'm surprised that none of my sisters are even here.", Lincoln says. "Then again, it's not like my parent's would let them go anywhere. And all the better for it, at least."

The laughs they shared was soon to be brought down by the subject that brought Lincoln to this place...

"So, what are you gonna do about your sisters?", asked Sam.

"Oh my gosh, is everything gonna be talking about them?", complained Lincoln, getting angry. "Nothing! I left home, just to get away from them! The last thing I want is to keep hearing about them."

"Sorry, man.", said Mazzy remorsefully, "It's not like we're trying to tick you off."

Lincoln calmed down, saying, "It's alright. But now you got me wondering what is it that I'm going to do now."

It was then that Sam turned her head towards the stage, at the group of people and saw Carol giving her a wink...

"I think you're about to find out.", Sam then said.

"What do you mean by that?", asked Lincoln.

It was then that Sam saw Carol signal her to give her a little more time...

"Oh, just give it a few minutes.", answered Sam.

Lincoln sighed, "Whatever, I'm gonna go check out the rest of the place."

"Have fun.", said Mazzy.

With that, Lincoln continued to look around the club, starting to wonder if there was anything left for him to see. It was then that he heard what sounded like two excited girls squeals heading his direction. Suddenly, he was caught into a surprise hug by two more familiar faces. And these ones, he knows too well, as he's left an impression on them. Whitney and Becky, they seized the opportunity, showing the comfort Lincoln deserves right now...

"Didn't expect to see you at this place, Lincoln.", said Becky.

"Likewise.", Lincoln said. "Haven't seen you two in a while. Why the surprise hug?"

"Can't just two girls come to show you some love?", Whitney asked.

Lincoln then questioned,"...This definitely has nothing to do with me running away, right?"

"...Noooooooo...", said both girls, awkwardly.

Lincoln already know he was right. But he shrugged it off, wanting to change the subject to something else. Seeing Whitney mess with her hair a little gave that chance...

"Hair trouble?", he asked her.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah.", said Whitney. "I'm think of getting a haircut. My curls just aren't with me right now."

"You should totally put your hair in a bun.", suggested Becky. "It would look good on you and you'd have less trouble with your hair."

"Yeah. Maybe I'll try that.", Whitney decided.

They shared a good laugh, but then the girls went back to the subject at hand

"So what are you gonna do right now, Lincoln?", Becky asked him.

Whitney then said, "If you want, you can stay with any of us."

"That's sweet of you guys, but I don't know." Lincoln said. "Lots of people here probably willing to take me home with them."

"You have no idea.", Becky says, looking over at the stage.

"What are those guys talking about over there, anyway?", Lincoln then questioned.

"Oh, nothing to be concerned about.", Whitney lied.

"If you say so.", Lincoln accepted. "I'm gonna go check out the arcade games this place has got."

"Have fun, Lincoln.", Becky says to him, as he leaves.

And with that, Lincoln made himself scarce from the girls and went off to try out the arcade games the club has. He was lucky enough to have some money to spare so he could keep on playing, and the games helped keep him awake for a little while longer. After going through several games, Lincoln decided that he had enough and that he needed some time to blink. But as he turned around, Lincoln was met by more familiar faces. Jackie and Mandee had surprised Lincoln from behind and it made him jump and even scream a little.

"Come on! Is everyone gonna keep doing that?!", Lincoln said, being annoyed by all the surprises.

Mandee laughed a little, saying, "Sorry about that, Lincoln."

Then Jackie said, "I guess you've been getting surprises all night, huh?"

"Yeah.", Lincoln said. "It's even getting harder for me to stay awake. Sorry for screaming."

"It's all good.", said Mandee.

It was then that Lincoln gave a surprise of his own, hugging both Mandee and Jackie unexpectedly. As they hugged him back, they could that it sounded like he was beginning to sob a little...

"Lincoln? Are you...crying?", asked Mandee?"

Maybe a little.", Lincoln says, wiping away his tears.

"Aw. It's okay, Lincoln.", Jackie says. "You can let it all out if you want."

"It's just that...I've been trying to keep a good impression.", states Lincoln. "But, I'm not sure how long I can keep what I feel inside any longer."

Mandee then asks him, "What are you feeling, Lincoln?"

"...Pathetic.", Lincoln replied.

Jackie then said, "No, Lincoln. You don't have to feel pathetic. We're your friends, we're here for you."

"Yeah. You don't to worry about anything.", Mandee added on.

Having the comfort of the two made Lincoln feel a whole lot better, as he even felt them some kisses on his forehead. All this was making him feel happy again...

"In fact...", Mandee started...

It was then that the girls turned Lincoln around and he was then confronted by a huge group of people, lead by Carol...


	4. Chapter 4: Man with a Plan

Finding himself confronted by the group, Lincoln felt at ease, being around people who truly cared for him, who didn't make him feel like "dead weight". They all took their time, having comforted the boy, welcoming him as a good friend of theirs. It was then that Fiona and Miguel confronted Lincoln, Fiona having something to confess to him. Fiona says to him, "Hey, Lincoln. I wanted to say sorry for how I treated you before when Leni was fired that one time."

"It's all good.", Lincoln replies. "I was kinda reckless when I was doing that. I was just trying to help."

"She's only trying to show some remorse because of what we've heard.", said Miguel.

Lincoln then says, "Yeah, I kinda figured."

"I know you're not too fond of your sisters at the moment.", Miguel stated. "But, you have to admit that they're not all bad."

"Yeah. We would know.", added Fiona. "We work with Leni."

Lincoln then says, "True. If I'm gonna be honest, Leni's innocence is one of the many reasons I love her. Luna, being my guardian, and having quite the taste for music makes her one of my favorites. Luan, despite her constant jokes and pranks, she nice to hang around with. Lucy, I just love her for who she is, dark, yet poetic, she's my second favorite. Lana, being Lola's polar opposite, is reason enough to love. She's an animal lover, doesn't care about looks, about winning, she's so sweet. Lisa has quite the brilliant mind and despite sometimes wanting to do experiments on us, I do know she means well. And Lily...well, what wouldn't anyone love about her? She's a bundle of joy and I would love her everyday."

"That's very sweet of you, Lincoln.", says Fiona.

"What about Lori, Lola and Lynn?", Miguel asked.

Lincoln replied smugly, saying, "Hmph...they didn't make the cut. With a few laughs shared, Fiona and Miguel took turns ruffling Lincoln's hair, making the kid feels loved. But there was something on Lincoln's mind that he ask the two of.

Fiona asks him, "Is something wrong, Lincoln?"

"No, it's just that...can I ask you guys do me a favor?", says Lincoln.

"Sure? What is it?", asks Miguel

"Please...don't tell Leni I'm here." The favor he's calling out was quite the surprise to Fiona and Miguel, who looked at each other with concern..

Fiona started asking, "Um...Why wouldn't you want her to-?

But then, Lincoln interrupted saying, "By the time they find out I'm missing, my sister's are going to go on searching for him, asking just about anyone if they have seen me. I don't want to know...not yet."

"...Sure, then.", Fiona agreed. "We'll keep it a secret."

Miguel added, saying, "Plus, we know much of a ditz Leni can be when we tell her things."

"Hey, that's my sister you're talking about.", remarks Lincoln.

"Now you got me wondering how Leni is doing.", says Carlota suddenly. "I'm just curious. She and I do seem to have some stuff in common."

"Uh, Carlota?", Lincoln says unsure.

"I can keep your secret too, Lincoln.", says Carlota. "Don't worry."

"Thanks. So, tell me.", started Lincoln. "What other things are there to do at this place?"

"Not much, really. This place did just open.", says Miguel.

"Yeah.", added Fiona We just try to have fun anyway we can."

Lincoln accepted, saying, "Cool."

Next one to talk to Lincoln was Parvana, who Lincoln recognized as one of Luan's friends from that that time she was in a play to win Benny over. Lincoln recognized her as the only girl wearing a hijab. All of a sudden, she immediately hugged the young boy, showing her remorse and care towards Lincoln. Startled by the hug, Lincoln asks. "Woah, what's this for?"

"I just want you to know that we're all for you.", Parvana answers. "Whatever you need to talk about, we'll listen."

"I'm fine. There's no...need to be so...caring.", Lincoln says, with his voice starting to break. Parvana could see Lincoln was on the verge of crying right now, seeing begin to hug her back and hold back tears and sniff a little. Seeing that the boy could use a tissue, Parvana got an idea she would've thought twice of before...

"Um...here.", Parvana says, removing her hijab. "Use this."

"You sure?", Lincoln asks, holding her hijab in his hand.

"I don't mind.", answered Parvana, swaying her hair. "Besides, it feels nice to let me hair out." Not only Lincoln, but others were starting to take a look at Parvana's hair, as they've never really seen it before. She had nice looking, a little unkept, shoulder length black hair that she began to put her hand through at means of fixing it a little. People were just astonished by her hair, while Lincoln was just feeling thankful...

"Well...thanks for letting me use this.", Lincoln says. "But...I don't wanna ruin it for you."

Parvana replies, "It's okay. Like I said, I don't really mind." It was then that Sully, Lyberti and Rex showed up. They too were a bit astonished by Parvana's hair. Sully remarks, saying, "Hey, guys. Nice hair, Parvana. So, Carol wants us all to be on stage. You up for it?"

"Sure.", Parvana answers."

"I don't mind.", shrugs Lincoln.

"Alright, let's go.", Sully says. While they were heading over to the stage, everybody around Lincoln couldn't help but open up. They were showing their remorse and care for the boy, but he wasn't to comfortable with it. He really didn't want any of them to worry about him, but for them to be so caring at the moment, he couldn't help but feel vulnerable. Sully then says, "So, how are you holding up, Lincoln?

Lyberti added"Just know that we're here for you."

Parvana continues, saying, "Anything you need, we'll help out with."

"Know that it's all gonna be okay.", Rex finishes with compliments.

"Guys, guys, it's alright. T-there's no reason to worry about me." Lincoln says, with his eye twitching "I'm perfectly...perfectly fine."

"Whatever you say kid.", Sully says, ruffling Lincoln's hair.

Parvana then pats Lincoln's head, saying, "As long as you're okay." With the comfort they were giving him, Lincoln was starting to feel more relaxed. Soon enough, they made their way to the stage, where Carol and the others were waiting for them. She asks them, "Alright, now that you're all here, we can get started?"

"What's this all about, Carol?", Lincoln then asks.

Carol answers, "You."

Lincoln asks, "What?"

"Lincoln, we want to help you.", says Carol. "I mean, where were you planning to go after you left your house?"

"I would've been fine, I could've gone anywhere.", remarks Lincoln.

"You're still just a kid, Lincoln.", Carlota argues.

Lincoln complains, "Come on!"

"Hey, Carlota. Have you gotten a little wider?", Miguel asks the latino girl.

Carlota started, "Uh, well-"

"Yeah, actually, she has.", Lincoln says, managing to change the subject. "She's been eating at some fancy buffets lately."

Carlota continued, "Okay, yeah, that's true. But-"

"I noticed that too." Shannon interrupted. "You have been looking a little wide, Carlota." Everyone was trying to hold in their laughter, but Carlota was beginning to grind her teeth. Getting ticked, she says. "Can we please move on from this?"

"Yeah, back to the subject at hand", deciding Sully. "You're not really gonna go too far without help, Lincoln."

Lincoln goes, "Hmm..."

Parvana then adds, "We're all just trying to help, Lincoln."

"And that's why we thought of how we could.", Dana continued on.

Carol then says. "We want you to come stay with us."

"Wait, what? All of you?", Lincoln questions.

"Each of us would take our turn taking care of you.", Carlota explains. "We'll all be there when you need us."

Lincoln felt unsure of this, saying, "Uh..."

"What do you say, Lincoln?", asks Carol

Lincoln then says, "...Can you give me time to think about it?"

"Sure. Take all the time you need.", says Carlota. With that said, Lincoln stepped away from the stage and left the teens to talk amongst themselves. But, Dana decided to go and see how he was doing, feeling like she couldn't leave it alone. She asks him, "How are you doing, Lincoln?"

"Please, don't try to rush me, Dana.", says Lincoln.

"I'm not, I swear.", Dana says. "But, think about it. Do you really want to go back to your house after what happened? Do you think they'll...accept you, even now?"

"...Well, yeah.", started Lincoln. "I mean, they've always been-"

"Your sisters take you from granted, Lincoln.", states Dana. "They take advantage of you, they don't care for you as much as they should."

Lincoln then tries to argue, saying, "That's not true! They-"

Dana interrupted saying, "Lincoln, we're trying to do you a favor. You ran away all so that you could get away from your sisters, do you really want to spoil that? Sure, sometimes they do good things for you, but how many bad things have they done? I can be certain a lot more than good."

"...But-"

"Besides... you'll sleep easy tonight...knowing your secret is safe with us." Dana says, almost seductively, kissing Lincoln on the forehead.

Lincoln then blushes, saying "...Okay then." With all that said, Lincoln caught Dana into a surprise hug and she embraced him the same way. And after that, they both went to the group who wanted to see how Lincoln was doing. Carol asks him, saying, "Well, Lincoln?"

"I've decided that I should stay with you guys.", Lincoln decides. The group was overjoyed with his decision, and they decided to give Lincoln a surprise hug of his own, with Carol, Whitney, Becky, Mandee, Jackie and Shannon embracing the white haired boy. Carol then asks him, "So, who are you gonna stay with first?"

"Well...why not you, Carol?", answers Lincoln.

"Really? Me?", Carol sounded surprise.

"Yeah. Why not? You were kinda the first person I could think of.", Lincoln says happily.

A few of the teens went "Aww", feeling sad that they couldn't be first, but Carol's eyes were glistening with joy for being picked by Lincoln. The two moved away from the rest of the group and hugged each other again and began to talk to each other about they'll hang out together. Carlota and Dana couldn't be happier for Lincoln, but then, Carlota got herself a phone call...

"Who could that be at this time?, Carlota asks, before she's surprised by who it was. "(0_0) Uh, oh."

Dana asks her, "What is it?"

"...It's Lori.", Carlota says with worry.


	5. Chapter 5: Looking out for Him

"Carlota? Are you there?", Lori asks Carlota through her phone.

Carlota nervously answers, "Hey, Lori. Uh, how's it going?"

Lori answers, "It could definitely be better. Lincoln's missing!"

"What? That's horrible!", Carlota says trying to keep her cool.

"I'm calling everyone in hopes that they may have saw him.", Lori says, "Have you?"

Not sure what to say, the only thing Carlota could say was, "Uh...Please hold."

"Wait, what?", Lori asks?

Putting Lori on hold, Carlota calls out to Dana, saying "Dana, help me out here! Lori's on the phone and she's looking for Lincoln! What do I tell her?"

"I don't know! Lie, make something up! Don't look at me for ideas!", Dana answers, panicking.

"Oh, Dear Lord, help me. Carlota says, bringing Lori back up. "Sorry for that Lori, something weird was happening. But, no. I'm sorry to say that I haven't seen Lincoln."

"Oh, man. Things just literally keep getting worse.", Lori says, worriedly. "First Lynn gets hospitalized and now this."

Carlota then asks, "Wait, back up, what was the first part?"

Lori answers, "Well, after Lincoln punched Lynn in the face, surprisingly with brute force, we had to take her to the hospital and...turns out it was more than just a broken nose. The impact knocked her out cold, so she's gonna be staying in the hospital for tonight. We weren't worried before, but with Lincoln gone missing, we're all freaking out."

"Oh gosh, that is horrible.", Carlota says.

"I just hope to hear from Lincoln soon." Lori says, sadly. "I was angry at him before, but now I just want him."

"Hmm...hold that thought.", Carlota says. It was then that Carlota headed over to Lincoln and Carol, where they were talking about what they'd be doing together. She tells him that Lori is on the phone right now and passes it over to Lincoln, but to everyone's surprise...he hangs it up...

"Lincoln...", Carlota says, before being interrupted.

"You know I would rather not be on speaking terms right now with my sister!" Screams Lincoln. "It's bad enough that I ran away, but I don't want to talk to her right. She'd probably be screaming at me."

Carlota argues, "That's not true! She sounded concerned for you! Your sisters are freaking out because you've gone missing."

"Hmm...", Lincoln thought.

Carlota then said, "And, Lori even brought up worse news!"

"...Like what?", asked Lincoln.

"Lynn.", Carlota stated. "She got hospitalized because you punched her."

"What?, Lincoln says surprised.

"Yeah, apparently the punch you gave her did a lot more than break her nose.", Carlota answered. This had stunned Lincoln, who found himself holding onto Carol, who hugged him back as his face dug into her shirt. Carol didn't care that his tears were staining her shirt, the boy needed comfort.

Carol then says. "I think it'd be best if his sisters didn't know where he was at the moment."

"I don't know, Carol.", argued Carlota. "I'm not too fond with having to lie to Lori about this."

"Carlota, we've already made our decision that we should take care of Lincoln for now on.", Carol says back.

"She's right.", Mandee added. "Do it for his sake."

Jackie continued, saying, "Come on, Carlota. This will all work out in the end."

"Hmm...okay then.", Carlota accepted. "For Lincoln."

"Awesome.", said Carol. "Now, I think it's about time I take this kid home with me. How about it, Lincoln?...Lincoln?" It was then that Carol found Lincoln having fallen asleep in her arms, and the others couldn't help but find him so cute at the moment. Mandee and Jackie and Whitney all went, "Aww.."

"Yeah, I think I better take him home now.", Carol remarks.

"Alright, good night, Carol.", said Carlota.

Carol replied, "Good night." With that said, Carol carries the sleeping white-haired boy in her arms as she heads towards the front door of the club...

* * *

Lincoln felt wrapped in something so nice and soft, he didn't really feel like waking up. But, he found himself waking up anyway and much to his surprise, he found himself in a bedroom that was not his own; it looked like a girl's bedroom. He was starting to remember what happened last night, he must've lost the energy to stay awake while Carol was comforting him. Speaking of whom, Carol comes in through the door to find Lincoln finally awake. She said to him, "I was wondering when you'd wake up."

"Oh, hey Carol.", yawned Lincoln. "How long was I out for?"

"A while.", Carol answered. "It's noon right now."

"Huh. So wait, is this your bed?, Lincoln asks 'You let me sleep here?"

Carol replied, "Yeah, it's no big deal."

Lincoln then asks her,"Well, where did you sleep?"

"With you.", she says.

"What?", says Lincoln, surprised.

"Yeah.", Carols says. "You don't believe me? Check it out, I took a picture." Pulling out her phone, Carol showed Lincoln a picture of them in the same bed, she taking the selfie while he slept with his arms wrapped around her. Lincoln felt himself turn red by the sight of it, making Carol laugh a little at his embarrassment. She says to him, "It's okay. You look so cute in this."

"...You're so sweet, Carol.", says Lincoln.

"...You too.", replies Carol.

With that said, the hugged each other, Lincoln feeling overjoyed with how Carol feels about him. But then, there was something else on Lincoln's mind that made him brake the hug. He immediately asks hers, "Wait! You didn't post that, did you?"

"What? No! No, no, no!", Carol says soon after. "I wouldn't do that after promising to keep your secret! Please relax."

"Okay.", he says, calming down.

Carol then says to him, "Sorry if that scared you."

"It's alright." says Lincoln, soon feeling his stomach growling. "Hmm, I'm feeling a little hungry."

"Well, I left some breakfast out for you in the kitchen.", Carol says. "I hope you like pancakes."

"Who doesn't like pancakes?", Lincoln remarks.

But, Carol then stops Lincoln, saying, "Uh, before you go and eat, can you...help me with my hair?"

"Your hair?", Lincoln asks confusingly.

"Yeah, I just need it to be brushed a little.", said Carol.

"...Sure.", Lincoln says. "But, uh, how'd you get it curved the way it usually is?"

"There's no real trick to it.", Carol explained. "It just comes that way. Just try it."

Feeling a little anxious about this, Lincoln takes a hairbrush and starts to brush Carol's hair, seeing the curved look of it come naturally for her.

"See? Not so bad.", Carol complimented.

"I guess not." Lincoln said. "Can we go eat now?"

Carol answered, "Sure." And so, Carol guided Lincoln over to the kitchen, where a stack of 5 pancakes were waiting for him. Wasting no time, Lincoln got onto a seat and began eating the stack really fast. Carol was a little surprised by this, asking Lincoln to slow down a little.

"Wow, you've must've been really hungry.", remarks Carol.

"Yeah, I haven't eaten since last night.", says Lincoln.

"Hmm...You know.", Carol states. "I can't explain it, but when you brushed my hair, it made me feel so satisfied."

"Heh, you kinda sound like Leni." says Lincoln. "She sometimes likes it when I brush her hair and always tells me I'm so good at it."

"Is it the same with all your sisters?", Carol asked.

"Well, all except Lori.", Lincoln explained. "I always catch a few snags due to how thick her hair is.

Carol laughed, saying. "I can relate. I sometimes share the same burden."

Lincoln laughed at the little joke, but was having some very mixed emotions at the moment. Especially, with Lori.

"...So what are you gonna do now?", wondered Carol.

"Huh?", Lincoln said, confusingly.

"How are gonna handle all this?", she asked. "Being away from your sisters? Having to live with me?"

"...I'll get through.", Lincoln said.

Carol remarked."Hmph. Tough guy."

"Eh, not really.", argued Lincoln.

"Well, I know how to soften a guy up.", Carol said mischievously.

"How?", Lincoln asked. So suddenly, Lincoln saw that Carol was now right next to him and was having a mischievous smile on her face...

"Uh...Carol?"

Without warning, Lincoln found himself being tickled by the teenage girl, who was enjoying every moment of it...

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAAHP!"

With the all the tickling Carol was giving Lincoln, both of them accidentally fell onto the floor. It didn't stop Carol from having fun with Lincoln. After a minute or so, both of them were still on the floor, with Lincoln breathing heavily and having a smile on his face as Carol embraces him.

"You're so sweet, Carol.", Lincoln said happily.

Carol happily replied, "Thanks. You too."


	6. Chapter 6: Back at the Loud House

At the moment, Lynn was waking up in the hospital, her head was still hurting like crazy. But now that her condition has been stabilized, she was finally free to leave and head back home. There were still a few bandages over her bruised nose and her eye was still sore, but it was nothing she felt like she couldn't handle. As she got out of bed, her overconfidence was starting to get the better of her as a doctor did try to help, but she said she could walk on her own...and then she fell on her face. Heading for the door, Lynn saw Lori next to Vanzilla, looking concerned as she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. It was only when Lynn snapped her back to reality, did the older sister react...

"Lori?", said the younger sister.

Lori replied, "Huh? Oh, hey Lynn."

"What's wrong? You looked zoned out for a second.", asked Lynn."

"I'll tell you about it on the way home.", Lori said.

After a little while of driving, Lori told Lynn everything; Lincoln had ran away. Lynn was...conflicted, she didn't know what to think of it. Should she blame herself? Had she gone too far again? One thing's for sure, her suffering wasn't gonna end with her brother's disappearance. A few moments later, they arrived back home, and upon opening the front door, Lori and Lynn bared witness to the huge state of panic the rest of sisters they were in. It had been like this all day after finding out their brother was gone, but that soon changed when Lori and Lynn came through the door...

"You...", said Luna. Getting enraged.

"What?", Lynn said, unprepared for what came next. Before anybody said anything else, Luna was about to pounce onto Lynn, wanting to tear her limb from limb. Luckily, the others stopped her when she was just inches away from killing Lynn.

She yelled out, "THIS. IS. YOUR. FAULT!"

"Can you stop?! Can you stop for a second?! I've already had it, alright?!", complained Lynn. "I knew I went too far when Lincoln punched me in the face; I get it already! I'm sorry!"

"Well! Maybe you oughta make yourself useful now and actually make up for your mistake by helping us find him!", scream Luna.

"Calm down, Luna!", yelled Lori. "Yelling in Lynn's face isn't gonna help us solve our problems."

"Fine then!", Luna said. "If you're gonna side with her, don't even talk to me!"

"I'm not siding with-GAH!", Lori said, frustrated. "Man, everything's literally snowballing right now!"

"Snowballing? It's not even winter.", said Leni, naively.

"Not what I MEANT, Leni!", Lori yelled out. "Our family is ready to tear each other apart at the moment, and all because Lincoln ran away! There's no point in talking to Luna at the moment. She's ticked."

"Ticked? she's just mad.", Leni said.

Lori groaned in frustration.

"And I don't blame her too.", continued Leni, "She was pretty attached to Lincoln. I think I recall him saying that Luna was one of his favorite sisters."

"I know that, Leni.", Lori said, frustrated. "But that doesn't give her the right to try to kill Lynn. Let alone, get angry at me."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have ticked her off.", said Leni, continuing with her naive streak.

"I WAS TRYING TO-!", Lori stopped herself from yelling. "GOSH, I don't think I could handle you any longer, Leni!"

"...What's that supposed to mean?", Leni said, feeling a little hurt.

"What do you think it means?", Lori said, before realizing something. "Wait, that's a stupid question because YOU barely even think."

"I can think! I always think of stuff!", remarked Leni.

"Maybe when it involves fashion, but besides that, your head is pretty much empty!", complained Lori.

"No, it's not!", argued Leni. "My brain's in it."

"Well then, maybe you just never use it!, said Lori, before saying something she would soon regret. "If I were to think of anybody who was the dumbest person on this planet, it'd be YOU, Leni! Because that's what you are, the world's dumbest PERSON!"

Her voice echoed throughout the house when Lori said that, and it was at that moment, Lori realized what she said as soon as she saw the tear beginning to form around Leni's eyes.

"I think I could see why Lincoln left in the first place.", Leni said with a breaking voice.

"...L-Leni, I-", started Lori, before being interrupted.

"Lori!"

Hearing her father's voice made Lori turn to see both her parents upstairs, and they were NOT looking happy...

"Upstairs. Now.", Rita commanded.

"B-but it's not...guys, help me out here!", Lori begged of her sisters.

All her sisters stepped back from Lori and shook their heads 'no' in shame of her...

"Help yourself, Lori.", Lana said.

Without seeing much of another option, Lori slowly made her way upstairs so that her parents confront her. Leni, on the other hand, who her sisters tried to comfort after the hurtful things Lori said to her, merely ran to her room and slammed the door behind her. At the moment, Lori sat, faced down in front her parents...

"I don't even know where to begin.", Rita said.

"Mom, I didn't mean it.", Lori argued. "I swear, that just came out."

"Really?", Lynn Sr. asked sarcastically. "Because it was words like those that made Lincoln leave in the first place."

"I swear, I'm literally sorry for what I just said.", Lori said, starting to get upset.

"Don't tell us that you're sorry, tell Leni.", Rita informed her daughter. "And just for the record, Lori, Leni can't help being who she is."

"And she's definitely not stupid.", Lynn Sr. continued. "She's just so...innocent. And some people love her for it."

"I know. I do too.", Lori said. But with everything going on right now, it's hard to stay calm."

Rita replied, "You shouldn't have to take your stress out on your siblings."

Lori said nothing after that.

Meanwhile, Lynn and Lucy decide to be the ones to see how Leni was doing. Cautiously opening the door, in hopes that Leni doesn't react badly upon them showing up, the two roommates step into her room and saw her bring her head up to see them, only for her to continue crying into a pillow...

"Uh, Leni? Are you okay?", asked Lynn.

Yes, I'm just fine, now get out.", Leni said with a muffled voice."

"Leni...I just came by to say that I'm sorry.", Lynn sighed.

Sorry? For what?", Leni asked. "For what Lori said, don't be."

"No, I mean...I'm sorry, because I'm the whole reason this is happening.", explained Lynn. "I'm the reason Lincoln ran away and why everything seems to be falling apart for us."

"...It's alright. You didn't mean it.", Leni said.

"It's not alright though.", Lynn argued.

"I'm not gonna hold it against you.", said Leni, remorsefully. "I'm not that kind of person."

"You don't have to keep blaming yourself, Lynn." Lucy added on. "Even the spirits know what it's like to be missing loved ones."

"But if they're spirits, couldn't they all be together?", asked Leni.

"The spiritual realm isn't exactly...united, Leni.", explained Lucy. "Often, spirits that are related to one another are separated onto different points of the astral plane, never to be with each other again."

"Yeesh, that's dark.", Lynn remarked.

Lucy replied, "I know."

"Well, thanks for trying to showing some remorse, guys.", Leni thanked her sisters. "But I think I'd just rather be alone."

"If you say so.", replied Lynn.

And with that, the two left Leni alone, but didn't close the door behind them and Leni was still too upset to get out of bed. Fortunately, her sadness got the attention of someone else, someone who really hates to see her siblings upset. She made her way to Leni's bed, and tried to perch herself up on it...

"I told you guys, I'd rather be left-"

Before Leni finished, she didn't see anyone, all except for Lily, her little baby sister, who was trying to get herself onto the bed...

"Oh, hey Lily...you wanna climb up, don't you?", Leni asked her baby sister.

Lily nods.

"Come here.", Leni sighed as she picked up Lily. "You know, I'm not feeling too good about all this. I really miss Lincoln, you know?"

"Wincoln?", Lily asked, confusingly.

"Yes, Lincoln. What I wouldn't give to see him right now.", Leni said. "If he were here, none of the stuff that's happened would be happening."

Lily was left confused, "Hmm?"

"It still doesn't change what did happen, though.", sighed Leni.

Seeing the sad face on her older sister, Lily lets out a smile in hopes of lightening her sister up. Luckily, Leni comes through. The next thing Lily does is climb up to her sister and rests her head on her shoulder. Leni found her baby sister playfully stroking her long blonde hair.

"Well, at least I got you around.", Leni said, feeling better.

Outside the door, Lynn and Lucy were peaking in, and were pleased to see that Leni was starting to feel happy again. They only hoped it last.

She then asked, "Too bad we can't just go and find Lincoln ourselves. Huh, Lily?"

It was then that Leni and Lily now had the same idea in mind.

"Wait a minute, who says we can't?", Leni says with confidence. "We can go find Lincoln ourselves!"

"Wha?", Lily said.

"What?", Lynn and Lucy said in sync

"Yeah, we can do this! Are you with me, Lily?", Leni asked her baby sister.

Lily nods excitedly.

Then let's do it!", said Leni. "We leave at bedtime!"

Later that night, Where it seems as if everyone was asleep, Leni managed to slip out of bed and get herself ready to head out. Having to move swiftly and quietly, she picks up Lily and they both head towards Lincoln's room.

"You know the front door's an option, right?"

Fearing they got caught, Leni and Lily turn around and were saw that standing behind was Lynn, who was looking a little serious right now.

"Lynn? You're not gonna rat us out, are you?, asked Leni.

"I'm no snitch.", said Lynn. "I wanna come with you."

"What?", Leni said confusingly.

"I need to see him, Leni. I need to let Lincoln know that I am sorry.", explained Lynn. "I already got what I had coming, but I don't want him to hate me forever."

"Oh, Lynn. That's sweet of you, it really is. But do you think it's a good idea for you to come along?", Leni asked. "Lincoln would definitely NOT want to see you. No offense."

"Please, Leni. I need to do this.", begged Lynn.

"I'm sorry, Lynn, I can't., said Leni unhappily. "You and Lincoln, you two kinda need to be away from each other for right now. But don't worry, I will bring him back."

With that said, Leni turned to Lincoln's door and was to open it, but not before Lynn stopped them once more. She says to them, "Listen...when you find Lincoln, if you do...just let him know that I am sorry."

"...I will.", Leni said. "Don't worry."

And with all that said, Leni opens the door to Lincoln's room a d heads for the window. She decides to use the same way Lincoln used in order to get out and begins to climb through the window, seeing the mattress directly below her...

"Okay, here it goes."

But, unfortunately, Leni seemed to have found herself...stuck. She tried to push herself through, putting her hands onto the side of the wall, but she wouldn't budge. Lynn, still standing where she was, couldn't help but snicker a little, due to how silly Leni looks right now...

"Uh, Lily? A little help?"

Left with no choice, Lily began trying and push Leni through with her tiny hands. But it almost seemed impossible to make a budge with her little baby strength. So then, she motions over to Lynn so that she could help out...

"Oh no. I think you got this. Keep going.", says Lynn, laughing at the situation.

Lily groans at her sisters incompetence.

Beginning to use her shoulders instead, Lily continued to try and push her sister through the window. Feeling Lily try to work from her side, Leni did the same and tried to get herself from her own side even harder. After a little while, the two finally managed to get Leni free as she ends up falling and landing on the mattress.

"Thanks, sis.", said Leni, dazed. "Alright Lily, your turn."

Then Lily did something that no parent would ever want their child to do. She jumped off a two story window and Leni carefully caught her in her arms...

"That was a close one.", Leni said. "It took a while to get me through the window, huh? Thanks for trying to help, Lily. You're stronger than you look."

The baby Loud rolled her eyes, knowing that Leni was the one practically doing all the work...

"I guess the windows a little too small for me."

Lily babbled something to Leni.

"What? You think I'm too big for the window?", asked Leni.

"Yah.", said Lily.

"Hmph. Anyway, let's go find our brother.", Leni then said, as they headed off.


	7. Chapter 7: Hide and Scream

The next day, Carol and Lincoln were walking down the street, heading over to meet Whitney, Mandee, Jackie and Carlotta. For obvious reasons, Carol had Lincoln concealed in a hoodie, so if they pass anyone of his family, he wouldn't be instantly recognized...for a few seconds. At the moment, they were nearing the forest, as they thought it safer to talk here on what they were gonna do with Lincoln next. Within moments, Carol and Lincoln saw the four girls waiting for them near some tall shrubbery...

"Hey girls.", said Lincoln.

"Hey Lincoln. How was your day with Carol?", Mandee asked.

"She's a blast.", Lincoln complimented. "I like hanging out with her."

"Aww. You're sweet Lincoln.", Carol said happily.

"You too.", Lincoln replied. "So, who am I gonna go with next?"

"That's what we're hear to talk about, but we need to talk fast.", explained Whitney.

"Why?", Lincoln asked.

Mandee answered, "Well, your sister, Leni might be looking for you...since last night."

"What?! How do you guys know about this?!", Lincoln asked them.

Jackie brings out her phone to show him, She tweeted about it."

"...Oh.", Lincoln said sheepishly.

Carlota added, "Now, she's looking all over town for, so need to think fast."

Carol tilts her head, saying, "Uh, have you not lost the extra weight, Carlota?"

Everyone then looks over to Carlota, who starts to glow red after Carol brought that up...

"Can we please not talk about-", Carlota said before being interrupted.

"Yeah, actually.", Whitney continued. "You look like you gained a little more weight."

"...Okay, yes.", Carlota groaned. "I haven't lost the extra and I can't explain it. I hate that it's making my dress feel tight. And, (points to Mandee and Jackie) these two won't stop teasing me about it!"

"Well, can you blame us?", Mandee asked.

"You're kinda making it easy for us.", Jackie added. "I mean, just look at-"

Not. Another. Word.", growled Carlota. "Anyway, let's just get back to the subject at hand."

But before the could continue on with their conversation, they heard footsteps coming their way. Carol looked as closely as she could, and was shocked to see that it was Leni, and she was heading over to where they were at right now.

"It's Leni! She's coming over here right now!", Carol said panicking.

"Aw, crud.", said Lincoln. "All that trouble to get away from my sisters and one of them happens to come close to finding me already! What am I gonna do?!

"Um...behind the bushes!", panicked Mandee.

Lincoln asked, "What?"

"It's all I got!"

"Just go with it, Lincoln.", said Carol. "I'll hide with you too."

"Okay!", Lincoln accepted.

And with that said, the two of them hide behind the bushes while is close to coming. It was then that Carol notices a hole in the ground and thinks of it as a great hiding spot for them.

"How about in there, Lincoln?", she asked.

Lincoln replied, "I don't think it looks too big."

"Come on.", argued Carol. "What's the worse that can happen?"

As she tried to crawl in, she realized Lincoln may have had a point as she was now struggling to push herself inside and soon got stuck.

"Little help, Lincoln?"

"Sure thing.", says Lincoln, cracking his knuckles.

It was then that Lincoln to try and push Carol deeper into the hole, as she even tried to make space for him as well. Going deeper into the hole, they realize the hole goes further into the side of a bush, making the space even more uncomfortable.

"Come on, Carol. Try to move over."

"What do you think I'm doing?", she complained.

As they struggled to get themselves situated, Mandee thought that they may have been making too much noise.

"Hey, try to keep it down.", Mandee told them.

"No problem. Just gotta...make...more...room.", Lincoln said, straining himself.

"Hmph. I could watch that all day.", Mandee remarked.

As Lincoln and Carol continued to get themselves situated the best they could, the other girls went over to see Leni and keep her distracted. But once Leni was now in view, they saw that she wasn't really looking too good. Her legs were wobbly, her hair was un-kept and there were heavy bags under her eyes.

"Um, Leni?", asked Jackie

"Hey, Jackie, Mandee, Whitney, Carlota.", Leni yawned. "Funny seeing you girls here."

"Jeeze, Leni.", said Carlota. "You looked like you haven't slept at all."

"I haven't. I've been up all night", Leni stretched out. "...I'm not giving up on finding Lincoln."

"That doesn't mean you should keep yourself from sleeping.", complained Mandee.

"I'll be fine.", Leni argued. "I just gotta get some energy going."

It was then that they noticed that Lily was with her, sleeping.

"You took your baby sister with you?", said Whitey.

"She wanted to find Lincoln too, and I didn't want to go alone.", said Leni.

"Leni, I really think you should go home and rest.", said Jackie, sounding concerned for her.

"I'm fine.", Leni said, before beginning to lose consciousness. "Just gotta...keep...walking..."

Seeing that Leni was about to fall down, the girls quickly caught her before she could hit the ground. The sudden catch was enough to make Lily wake up and see the four girls above her.

Lily waves happily at them.

Mandee, Jackie, Whitney and Carlota all wave back, "Hi, Lily."

They made Lily giggle.

"That's just cute.", Jackie said. "But, what are we gonna do with Leni?"

"We should try to wake her up.", answered Mandee.

"Anybody have any ideas?", Carlota asked.

Whitney thought about it for a second before slapping Leni across the face.

"WHITNEY!", yelled out Mandee, Jackie and Carlota.

"What? That usually works.", remarked Whitney.

Jackie then said, "Is that poof of yours weighing your head down?"

"Oh! Give me a break here!", complained Whitney. I'm just trying to help."

Apparently, the slap did work since Leni was now starting to wake up again. But the first thing she noticed was...

"Hey, is it me, or does Carlota look a little-"

"Don't say it!", Mandee shouted.

"Not right now.", added Jackie

"Okay. But, why?", Leni wondered.

"She's just a little sensitive when it comes to it being brought up.", explained Mandee.

As Leni got back on her own feet, everyone of the girls looked over at Lily, who seemed to be reaching out to Mandee, swatting her arms, the girls had found adorable.

They all went, "Awww."

"Yeah, isn't she cute?", says Leni as she got back up. "Welp, I better get back to searching."

"By the way, Leni. Where have you already looked?", asked Jackie.

"I started by looking in Lincoln's favorite spots, like Gus's Games and Grub...but that's about it." Leni explained. "I haven't really gone too far."

"Well, just don't try to stress yourself.", Mandee said to Leni."

"And please, try to get some rest.", Jackie added."

"Yeah, you guys are right.", Leni agreed. "Thanks for the advice."

"Good luck, Leni.", Carlota said.

"See you later."

As Leni began to leave, the girls could see Lily reaching out to them. Understanding what the little one wanted, Mandee stopped Leni for a second.

"Hey, Leni?", Mandee said. "I think Lily wants a little more time before you head off."

"Is that true, Lily?", Leni asked her sister.

Lily replied, "Uh-huh."

"Okay, here you go.", Leni agreed, giving Lily over to Mandee.

"Aw, you little sweetheart.", Mandee says, as she hugs Lily. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll see each other again real soon, okay?"

Lily giggles with joy.

"Okay.", Mandee gives Lily back to Leni. "See you guys later."

"Bye!", Leni says to the girls.

After hearing his sister leave, Lincoln took this as his chance to come out of hiding. And as he saw his sister disappear from view, Lincoln was starting to have some mixed thoughts and feelings about all this, and the girls could see a hint of concern on his face.

"Lincoln? You okay?", Mandee asked.

"...I don't know.", Lincoln said. "To hear that my sister was going this far just to find me and take me home, it's making me feel a little bit...conflicted."

"So...what?", asked Jackie. "Are you gonna rethink everything?"

"...No.", said Lincoln. "At least, not yet. I gotta-"

Before he could finish, Lincoln noticed that Carol was having trouble getting out of the hole they were just in...

"Uh, Lincoln?"

"Need some help?", Lincoln asked her.

"Yeah.", said Carol.

Taking Carol by the arm, Lincoln begins to pull and slowly bring Carol out of the hole.

"Well, that was embarrassing.", said Carol, as she dusted herself off. "Thanks for the help, Lincoln."

"No problem.", said Lincoln. "So anyway, I gotta stay away until I'm ready to go home."

"You should take as much time as you want, Lincoln.", Whitney said. "If want to stay, that's your call."

"Thanks."

"Now that that's settled, I guess we better get to what we were talking about at first.", Carlota said.

"Right, so...who am I gonna go with next?", asked Lincoln.

Carol replied, "That's your choice to make, Lincoln."

Jackie added, "And any choice you make, we'll be fine with."

"Hmm...well actually, I was thinking to Dana's next.", decided Lincoln. "She was so persuading into wanting me to go along with the plan. So, why not her next?"

"Hmm, I think I actually heard that Chaz was staying over at her house.", Mandee said.

"Chaz? Isn't he another one of Leni's friends?", Lincoln asked.

Jackie answered "Yep."

"Well, I guess that won't be too much of a problem.", assumed Lincoln. "What did he look like again?"

"You'll see.", said Carol.

"Okay... he's not annoying, is he?", Lincoln asked.

"No, no, no.", Mandee explained. "he's actually lots of fun sometimes."

"If you say so."

* * *

Back to where Leni was, she was actually heading back to her house. She was willing to take whatever sort of punishment she would get for sneaking out. upon arriving at her house, she was about to open the door, only to have it opened by her mother, who wasn't looking to happy right now...

"Mom?"

"You mind explaining yourself for last night?", Rita asked, unamused.

"Okay, yes.", Leni stated. "I sneaked out, but only because I just wanted to find my brother so badly."

"You could've told us first.", Rita stated, "We need to be in this together, Leni. And on top of all that, you took Lily with you. You can't just bring a baby to go searching in the middle of the night. You were putting both of yourselves in danger."

"I know. I'm sorry.", Leni said.

"I'm just glad your okay.", Rita sighed.

With that said, Rita hugs her daughters as she lets them into the house.

"So...any luck finding Lincoln?", asked Rita.

"Not really.", Leni explained. "I searched all night, and I felt like I was getting close earlier, but I was too tired to keep going."

Hearing this made Lily about to cry and Leni did the best to comfort her as she keeps Lily close to her shoulder.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, Lily.", Leni told her sister. "I wish you didn't have to deal with this either."

"Oh, Lilly..." Rita says while comforting her daughter. "It'll be okay, we will find Lincoln. I promise you that. (turns to Leni) Now Leni, you know what you did isn't going to have to go unpunished."

"I know.", Luna accepted. "I deserve to be stuck in the window again."

"Wait, you went through the window?", asked Luna, coming in with Luan and Lana.

"Lincoln did it. Seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Talk about going through the looking glass.", Luan said jokefully.

"Yeah, except she didn't end up in Wonderland.", Lana said as a comeback.

"Hey, it wasn't entirely my fault.", Leni explained. "At least I managed to get out of there with the help of Lily."

"Wait, what?", Luna asked, confused.

"Yeah. She just started pushing on me and I popped right through.", explained Leni.

It was then that her sisters were looking at her with a "Really?" expression on their faces, which left her a little confused. Even Lily rolled her eyes a little without Leni noticing. Soon after, Lola showed up and she didn't look like she was in a good mood.

"If you guys are done talking about the stinky baby, can we please focus on finding Lincoln?", she remarked.

Hearing that made Lily more upset, burying her face into her mother's chest. Rita held her baby daughter close as she too was offended by what Lola just said.

"Hey, there's no need to talk about Lily like that!", Lana said.

"And why would you even care if we find Lincoln?!", said Luna. "You're probably one of the reasons he ran away in the first place!"

"Whoa, Luna, that's a bit going too far.", said Rita.

"How would I even be a reason for him running away?", argued Lola. "Lynn's the one that called him dead weight!"

Lynn comes down, saying, "Yeah, I but regret what I said. And I would give nothing to apologize to him right now."

"Yeah? Well, I still don't see how I'm a reason for him leaving.", said Lola.

"You've given him plenty of reasons to leave.", Lynn remarked.

"Really?! Like what?!"

"The blackmailing, the bratty attitude.", explained Lynn

"I DO NOT HAVE A BRATTY ATTITUDE!", Lola yelled out.

"Doesn't seem that way to me.", remarked Lynn.

"Oh, whatever! No one can put this whole thing on me!", Lola said. "We had a perfectly good reason for treating Lincoln the way we did!"

"...Well? We're waiting?", Rita said, waiting for an anwer.

"Uh...", Lola had nothing.

"Shut it, Lola. There is no good reason at all to bully our brother. I learned that the hard way.", said Lynn, pointing to her eye.

"Ugh! Well, if anything, Lynn, you're right!" Lola yelled. "Lincoln is dead weight! That's all he's ever been!"

Everyone in the room gasped when Lola said that, and Lynn could tell that she meant it...

"...I was wrong, Lola.", Lynn explained. "I should never had said to him and if anything, I deserved the black eye he gave; I clearly had it coming! Lincoln is not dead weight! He's part of what holds our family together and keeps us from screaming at each other. And you, making what I said an excuse to not take the heat for what we did, then you're obviously the real dead weight around here!"

"ENOUGH!", Rita yelled out. "Would you listen yourselves?! Now is not the time to be fight amongst themselves. The only way to find Lincoln is if we work together!"

"Guys, mom's right.", agreed Leni. "You can kill each other later."

"...Fine." Lola and Lynn said, facing each other with such hate in their eyes.

"But let's leave Lily here this time.", Rita said. "I don't want her put into any danger."

"But who are we gonna get to look after her?", asked Luna.

* * *

A few moments later, Rita was talking to Ronnie Anne, Girl Jordan, Kat, Mollie and Renee about how to take care of Lily.

"Here's all the number, food's in the fridge, oh, and Lily tends to be a slippery one. So, don't let her get passed so easily." Rita said as she hands Lily over to Kat.

"You can relax, Mrs. Loud.", Ronnie Anne says. "Lily will totally be safe with us."

"I hope so. I'm counting on you girls.", Rita told them.

"You guys really think we can do this?", asked Kat.

"Yeah, she's just a baby.", Girl Jordan explained. "How much trouble could she be?"

In Kats hand, Lily looks up to the older girl and starts to grab hold of her long black hair, and snuggles with it. The sight of it made all the other girls find it adorable, including Leni, Luna, Luan and Lana.

"Wait, not the hair! Not the hair!", screamed Kat.

The girls all went, "Awwww!"

Except for Ronnie Anne, saying, "Hmph. That's adorable."

"Girls, come on! ", Rita called out. "We gotta get moving!"

"Oh, right! Come on!", Leni said.

"Now, I'm counting on all you girls to make sure that nothing goes wrong while we're out.", Rita told the girls.

"You got nothing to worry about, Mrs. Loud.", said Girl Jordan. "Your daughter is in safe hands."

"I'm just hoping you find Lincoln soon.", said Ronnie Anne. "Hate to see if anything bad happened to him."

"We will find him, Ronnie Anne.", Rita said, holding onto hope. "I know we will."

Little does anybody know that Ronnie Anne actually does know where Lincoln is. Despite keeping a promise to Lincoln, Carlota had shared the news with her cousin, now forcing Ronnie Anne to keep the secret as well.

"Do you girls think Lincoln is okay?", asked Mollie.

"I hope so.", Girl Jordan said. "I could only think of how he's doing right now."

"He's got to be okay.", Renee added. " What do you think, Ronnie Anne?"

All the girls' eyes had turned to Ronnie Anne, who uncharacteristically quiet right now.

"Um...I don't know...All I know is who to blame."

"What, his sisters? You can't blame all of them, Ronnie Anne.", Girl Jordan explained.

"It's still them, regardless.", remarked Ronnie Anne.

"Yeah, but it's mostly, uh...Lori, Lynn and Lola's fault.", Girl Jordan said. "So if you wanna blame somebody, blame them."

"I would want to punch them right now, but Lincoln already but me to Lynn, so...One down, two to go.", Ronnie Anne thought.

The girls laugh at Ronnie Anne's joke. Well, all except Kat, who wasn't too comfortable at the moment with Lily holding her hair.

"Can someone else hold Lily for a while?", she asked the others.

Back to Kat, though she didn't like the thought of people messing with her hair, looking down at Lily merely snuggling it, it made her feeling more comfortable...

"Well, I guess this is a little better than having it burnt.", sighed Kat, having some relief.

Rita sees the girls head upstairs, and is feeling relieved to know that her daughter is in safe hands.

"Alright. Let's get going."

In the van, all of the sisters stayed quiet as their father turned on the engine and began to drive. Their son was out there somewhere, and the Louds won't stop until they find him...


	8. Chapter 8: Well Rounded Friends

Last night was one of the best sleeps Lincoln's had in a while. He was now over at Dana's, in a comfortable bed and didn't even feel like waking up. But, that wasn't meant to be as he found himself getting tickled awake by someone.

"Wake up, you little sleepyhead."

"Huh? Wha?", yawned Lincoln?

Lincoln finally opened his eyes to see Dana over him, wearing pajamas and having her hair out of it's usual ponytail.

"Oh. Morning, Dana.", said Lincoln. "Hey, your hair looks kinda nice. Did you do something with it?"

"I just took it out of it's ponytail.", Dana explained. "I do it before I go to sleep."

"Well, it does look nice.", complimented Lincoln.

"Thanks. Now, get yourself ready.", said Dana. "Breakfast is on the table for you and Chaz."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you had someone else.", Lincoln said, forgetting about Chaz.

"I'm hoping he doesn't take up too much space for you.", said Dana.

"Okay...wait, what do you mean?", asked Lincoln, confused."

It was then that the person in question, Chaz, was knocking on door...

"Hey, Dana. Is the kid awake yet?", asked Chaz.

"Yeah.", Dana answered.

Chaz then asked, "Cool. Can I come in?"

Dana replied sure, "Sure."

Upon opening the door, Chaz tries to head inside the rooms. But, he ended up getting himself stuck through the doorway...

"Oh, I see what you mean.", said Lincoln, now understanding."

"Uh, a little help Dana?", Chaz asked sheepishly.

"Sure.", Dana sighed.

Taking Chaz's arm, Dana struggles to pull him through the doorway, until they are both eventually inside the room...

"Lincoln, I believe you've seen Chaz before."

"Oh yeah, now I remember him.", Lincoln said. "You showed up at my sister, Lori's party."

"Yeah. I was about to leave until you guys came an riled things up.", Chaz said.

"It's kinda what we do.", Lincoln remarked.

"So, I heard you ran away from home.", said Chaz. "Must've been a pretty big decision."

"Yeah, and I heard you're staying over here too.", Lincoln replied. "I could see what Dana meant by 'taking up too much space'."

"Heh. Yep.", Dana said.

"Oh, shut it.", said Chaz, annoyed.

"Chaz, come on.", replied Dana. "I was just joking."

Lincoln then asked, "So, why is Chaz here?"

Chaz replied, "I come here whenever I having to struggle with my weight...I come here a lot."

"He's here so many times, he's sorta become like a brother to me.", Dana remarked about.

"Okay then.", Lincoln accepted.

"But really, he's asked me to check up on how...plump he gets every now and then.", Dana explained. "From time to time, he seems to get a little fatter every now and then..."

Chaz groaned in annoyance.

"But, at least he's still, and always will be, a close friend of mine.", Dana said.

"Really?", Chaz sounded surprised. "That's really sweet of you to say, Dana."

"I'll agree.", added Lincoln. "I almost feel touched myself."

"Aww, thank you, boys.", Dana said gratefully. "We've been doing this for quite a while now, and...I guess it just shows how good of friends we are."

"Yeah. We just care too much about each other that way.", Chaz said."

"Hmm. You guys are gonna make me cry.", said Lincoln, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Funny, Lincoln.", said Chaz. "I'm gonna go finish breakfast. I'll see you two down there."

But as Chaz tried to leave, he got wedge in the doorway and couldn't get out on his own again...

"Uh...Dana?"

"Oh, for crying out loud. Not again, Chaz.", Dana said, annoyed."

And with that, Dana is now struggling to push Chaz through the door...

"So, ugh, how did things go the other day?", Dana asked. "Argh...I heard Leni may have almost saw you."

"Yeah.", Lincoln began to explain. "The other girls told me she looked a mess and that she hasn't slept in a whole day. Just the thought of her like that made me start to think twice about this whole idea."

"Aw, Lincoln, don't over think it.", Dana says whiles she tries to kick Chaz through the door. "You've come. (kicks Chaz) So. (kicks Chaz) Far. (kicks Chaz) after all this, haven't you?"

"Ow! Dana!", Chaz yelled.

Dana replied, "Sorry!"

Lincoln then began to say, "Well, that's true, but-"

Dana interrupted saying, "Then you shouldn't even stop now! I mean, come on..."

With some last effort, Dana pushes Chaz through the door with her shoulder and elbow.

"Naaaaagh!", Chaz yelled out before he crashed.

"And don't even think about sneaking a bite before we're down there!", Dana commanded.

"Alright! Gosh!", Chaz yelled back.

"Yep, you two seem like real good friends.", remarked Lincoln.

Dana laughed a little, soon saying, "Anyway, you wouldn't want to go back to the way things were before. Things barely worked out for you, but now...you're living the dream."

"...Yeah, I guess I am.", thought Lincoln.

"Good. Keep thinking like that.", Dana said. "'Cause you know...things would be better off for you, with us."

"...You might be right." Lincoln shrugs. "Okay, I'll keep this up."

"Nice. Now, can you do me a favor and help me with my ponytail?", Said Dana as she pulled out a hairband.

"Sure.", Lincoln agrees as he begins to tie the ponytail. "So, does Chaz get stuck like that a lot?"

"Very often, actually.", Dana explained. "I'm thinking it's because my doorways might be too narrow for him."

"Sure seems that way. Lincoln remarks as he finishes tying her hair. "Okay, all done. Never really had to help someone with their ponytail before. It was actually a little hard."

"I'm sure you did fine.", Dana said.

Lincoln replied, "Maybe it's because your hair is so thick."

"I'll take that as a compliment.", Dana said. "And yes, probably, I think I'll do something about that."

Lincoln remarked. "Lori's hair is thicker though."

Hmph. Come on, let's go eat breakfast.", Dana said.

And the two of them go down to eat. In the kitchen, Chaz was sitting and watching a stack of four waffles on the table, seeming to be waiting impatiently for the other two.

"About time."

"You can eat now, Chaz.", Dana allows.

"Finally!", Chaz sighed in relief.

Dana then says, "I'll get you your plate, Lincoln."

"Thanks Dana.", said Lincoln.

As Lincoln sits across from Chaz, Dana sits right next to him, having two plates that had some toast, some scrambled eggs and pieces of bacon, all in the shape of smiley faces. The sight of the happy looking breakfast made Lincoln feel overjoyed..

"Oh wow, my favorite! You're the best, Dana.", Lincoln said as she hugs Dana.

Dana returns the hug, saying, "Alright, thank you, Lincoln. Now eat up. We have a big day ahead of us."

While Lincoln and Dana savored their own meals, Chaz was more or less stuff his face at the moment.

"Chaz, would you please slow down?", Dana asks.

"Hey! How fast I eat doesn't make me any fatter!", Chaz remarked.

Dana groaned and rolled her eyes.

Lincoln started explained, "Well, actually, according to health studies-"

"Forget it, Lincoln.", interrupted Dana. "This is just one of the many struggles I have to deal with when it comes to having a roommate like Chaz."

"Ah."

After they finish eating, they start cleaning up and get ready to head out. But as Chaz heads to the door before Dana and Lincoln, the same thing happens to him like before he wounds up getting stuck between the front door.

"Uh...Dana? A little help?"

After Dana and Lincoln look at each other like "seriously?", Dana begins pushing Chaz through the door with her back and with frustration...

"Need any help, Dana?", asked Lincoln.

Dana while straining top push Chaz, replied, "No, I got it, Lincoln. Believe me, I have to do this a lot more than you think!"

After a little while later, Dana starts using her elbow and shoulder to push Chaz through, and it works more effectively as she finally pushes him through. All the frustration caused Dana to have a few strings come loose and now hang over her face. She quickly fixes it, wanting to look her best.

"You really oughta try harder on whatever you're doing to help him with his weight.", Lincoln remarked.

Dana agreed, saying, "You're probably right."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Loud House, Ronnie Anne, Girl Jordan, Mollie, Kat and Renee were continuing to look after Lily as they find themselves in Lori's room. Mollie was sitting on edge of Lori's bed, cooing the baby by nuzzling her little nose, while Kat and Renee just watched, looking unamused.

"So, why are we even here again?", Kat asked.

"We thought we could use the extra help, so we called you guys on short notice.", Girl Jordan explained.

"Why couldn't you get anyone else though?", Renee asked. "We're not exactly fit for this kind of thing."

"Everyone else was busy, you were not." Ronnie Anne explained. "Now, stop complaining."

"Just saying.", Kat explained. "If Lincoln didn't run away as cowardly as he did, we wouldn't have to be doing this."

"Don't call Lincoln a coward.", Ronnie Anne demanded. "Any one of us would've done the same if we were in his shoes."

"Girls...", Mollie said.

"Oh, come on.", Renee complained. "He's too cowardly even to be your boyfriend."

"Oh, that is it!", yelled out Ronnie Anne, ready to pounce both of them.

"Girls, stop it!", Mollie yelled out. "You're upsetting Lily."

All the girls turned to see Lily quivering in Mollie's arms, having witnessed the violent attentions between..

"You're right, Mollie." said Ronnie Anne, calming down. "I'm sorry. I'm not really made at Kat and Renee."

"You're not?", Kat asked."

"No. I'm more mad at Lori and Lola.", Ronnie explained "I was mad at Lynn too, but, she seems to be making up for it."

"Try to keep that anger low for now, Ronnie Anne.", Girl Jordan asked of Ronnie Anne. "You can get back at Lori and Lola for what they did."

"Yeah, but how?", Ronnie Anne asked.

Looking around Lori's room, Ronnie began thinking of how she'd get back at Lori and Lola, having a mischievous look on her face.

"Don't even think about it.", Girl Jordan then said.

"What do you mean?", Ronnie Anne asked. "You don't even know what I was thinking!"

"I could tell by the look in you eye that you were planning on trashing Lori's room.", Girl Jordan explained

"Aw, come on! It could work!", Ronnie Anne complained.

"How about try confronting them first before doing anything crazy.", suggested Mollie.

Girl Jordan added, "Yeah. Just get in their face when you get the chance."

Ronnie Anne replied, "...Alright. But I don't want to hear anymore complaining coming you two! (points to Kat and Renee)"

"...Fine.", Kat and Renee both said in sync.

The two of them then look at Lily, who was still a little bit scared after seeing all that. But Girl Jordan sat next to Mollie and began rubbing the little one's head.

"It's alright, Lily.", Girl Jordan said comfortably. "You don't have to feel scared anymore."

"You know, I think she just might be missing Lincoln.", Mollie thought.

"Is that true, Lily?" Girl Jordan asks the infant. "Do you miss your brother?"

Lily nods.

"Well, don't worry.", Girl Jordan tells her. "I'm sure Lincoln's safe, and you will see him again soon."

Seeing how caring Girl Jordan was to her made Lily feel a whole lot more better, as she began to fall asleep in Mollie's arms...


	9. Chapter 9: Loud Hunt

It was the early morning and the Louds were getting ready to continue searching all across town. So far, they have been without any luck in finding their son, but they were not giving up. They only wished that they stayed in someplace more comfortable last night.

"That hotel sucked.", Lori complained.

Luna agreed, saying, "You're telling me, the service stuck."

Lana added, "They were all so stuck up! Like Lola!"

Lola continued on with, "I never want to go back there! And hey!"

"I don't think we'll be allowed back there after the stunts some of you pull.", Lynn Sr. told them all.

* * *

(Flashback)

Due to clumsiness, Leni have caused a few things to break, including a chandelier, which almost took a someone's head off...

"Oops. Sorry about that."

Another thing that happened was Lana working on the plumbing in their room, trying to make it work better, but she ended up flooding several rooms across from their own.

"Well...drains fixed."

Last but not least, Lynn had attack an elder by mistake...

"Hey, that old man had it coming!"

This caused her to get into a fight with the old man's niece, who was a year older than Lynn and was a real punk. That caused a lot more damage than anything else.

(End Flashback)

* * *

"Let's forget about that.", said Rita. For now on, let's focus on finding our boy."

"Right. Now, it's a bit of a long shot.", said Lynn Sr. "But that chances are that Lincoln may not be anywhere in Royal Woods at the moment. So, we're gonna look in the woods."

"And we're gonna have to split up to cover more ground.", Rita added.

"There's twelve of us, but half are a little young to be going out on their own.", Lynn stated.

"How are we gonna decide how this goes then?", asked Lana.

"If we go in groups of four and three, that should be enough.", explained Lisa.

"That settles it, then.", Lori decided. "I'll go first."

"Whoa, whoa.", Lynn interrupted. "Who's says you get to go first?"

"Lynn...", said Rita.

"Fine.", Lynn said, unamused.

"Alright. Luna, you're with me.", says Lori.

"I'll go second.", Rita said. "Honey, you're with me."

"Now, I'll shall go last.", Lisa spoke out.

"Why you?", asked Lola.

Lisa replied, pointing to Leni, "Would you rather have our second oldest sibling?"

"...Fine.", Lola accepted.

"I shall take our fifth eldest sibling.", Lisa then said, pointing to Lynn.

Lori continued saying."Lucy, Lana, you're with me."

Rita then said, "I'll take Luan and Lola."

"And...that just leaves me with our second oldest sibling...irony.", Lisa said, finishing the groups.

"Welp, we're all teamed up.", said Rita. "Now let's get search."

And with that, they all split up into the woods. With Lori's group, Luna gives Lana a boost a up a try, to see if she can find any sight of Lincoln up there.

"Anything?", Luna yelled to her little sister.

"No.", Lana sadly said. "There's too many trees to look around."

Lori herself was looking into a rabbit hole for her brother.

"Lincoln? You in there?", yelled out Lori through the hole.

"Why would our brother be inside a rabbit hole?", Lucy asked, unamused by this.

"Uh, 'cause he's literally small enough to fit inside?", Lori answered sarcastically.

Lucy wasn't finding this as funny as Lori was.

"Well, he's not here.", Luna said. "Let's keep looking."

But as Lori tried to pull her head out, it appears to have gotten stuck inside due to her hair. Now she couldn't get out on her own.

"Uh..Lucy?", Lori called out. "I'm stuck."

"Either must be your thick hair, or your thick skull.", Lucy remarked.

"What was that?", asked Lori, sounding a little angry.

"Nothing. Hold still.", Lucy said.

"Wait, Lucy.", Luna called out, taking her phone out. "Let me take a picture of this."

"No!", Lori yelled out. "Luna, if you literally take a picture of me like this, I swear-"

(CLICK)

"Hello, new wallpaper.", Luna said, satisfied.

Lori growled in angry, while a little smile grew on Lucy's face, though that was hard to see.

As Lucy was trying to pull Lori out of the hole, Lana and Luna were enjoying the picture while Lori was thinking of ways of how she was gonna kill those two. After a minute of pulling, Lucy finally managed to pull Lori out of the hole, and she was not at all thrilled to have dirt covering her hair and face. Luna snickered, holding in her laughter.

"Uh...you got a little-", Lana said, pointing to Lori's head.

"Don't...say it.", growled Lori, not wanting to deal with it.

Meanwhile, at Rita's group, they continued searching on foot, until the found themselves a giant boulder, hoping it would grant them a better vantage point...

"I'm not gonna be able to climb that.", Rita said.

"Maybe Lola could do it.", suggested Lynn Sr. "Come on, Lola. I'll give you a boost up."

"No!", Lola screamed out.

"Why not?", Rita asked her daughter.

"I don't wanna do this! I don't wanna be here!", Lola said obnoxiously. "I don't even know why we're bothering looking for Lincoln. He's probably gone away right now."

"Lola!", Lynn Sr. called, angrily.

"Let me talk to here, Dad.", suggested Luan.

And with that, Luan pulls Lola aside, hoping to talk some sense into.

"Okay, what's up with you?", Luan confronted Lola.

Lola replied, "What do you mean?"

"Why are you so hopeless right now?", Luan asked her. "Don't you wanna find Lincoln?"

"I'm just pointing out the obvious.", Lola sadly said.

"No, you're not. You're just pointing out how you feel.", explained Luan. "And what you feel now is hopelessness about our chances of finding Lincoln."

"Hey, that guy wanted to leave!", Lola complained.

Luan argued. "Because you guys pushed him to!"

"We didn't push him!", Lola talked back. "And Lynn was the one who called him deadweight!"

"At least she's making up for it.", Luan said. "You're just sticking to that same bratty attitude of yours that we're all sick off having to deal with!"

"Who are you calling bratty!?", Lola yelled. "And you wanna talk about having to deal with stuff? What about you and your jokes? I'm surprised you really haven't made on yet!"

"Not when it involves things like this.", Luan screamed. "It's hard to be funny when you're looking for your missing little brother! There's nothing to joke about here, not now."

Luan's seriousness was catching Lola by surprise as everything she said, Lola paid attention.

"Now...if you can stop acting like yourself for a few second and have a little faith.", Luan demanded."...Help us find Lincoln by making yourself useful."

"...Okay.", Lola accepted.

Luan replied. "I'll boost you up."

And with all that said, Luan boosts Lola up to the top of the giant boulder where she takes a look around. After a minute or so, she came back down with Luan's help. She didn't seem to have any luck finding anything.

"Anything?", called out Luan.

"No...Dad?", Lola said, "About what I said-"

"It was hurtful. But we understand how you were feeling.", Lynn Sr. explained. "We have sense of hopeless right now, as a matter of fact."

"You do?", asked Lola.

"Yes. We're afraid of losing our son forever.", Lynn Sr. poured out. "But we're not giving up. We all faith that we'll find him one way or another."

"...I hope so.", Lola said with regained hope.

"You were just missing him, weren't you?", Luan asked.

Lola replied. "...Yeah...I was."

"And we understand that.", Lynn Sr. "But don't ever again say that he's gone...We will find him."

"...Okay, Dad.", accepted Lola.

It was then that they noticed that Rita was off in the distance, looking around.

"What's Mom doing?", Luan asked.

"She's still looking around.", answered Lynn Sr. "Seeing if she can find anything."

"Hey! I think I see something!", Rita yelled out.

Lynn Sr asked, "What is it?"

"Over there.", she cried out.

Pointing to what she saw, everyone's looking what appeared to be a building in the distance. Deciding to get a closer look, they head over there and saw how the building wasn't aged or anything. In fact, it looked pretty brand new. But the doors were locked and there was a sign that said "CLOSED"...

"Doesn't seem like anyone is around.", Lynn Sr. thought. "It looks nice though, but the place is locked up."

"What are the chances that Lincoln may have been here?", Rita asked

Luan replied, "Anything's possible, Mom."

"We should regroup with the others.", Lynn Sr. suggested. "See if they found anything."

"Right.", Rita accepted.

While they head back, Lisa's group was somewhere in a opening within the forest, clear from any trees. And while they were there, Lisa spotted what looked to be some sort of crater. While she takes a look inside, Lynn pulls Leni aside so that they could talk together...

"You know, Leni, I really messed up here.", Lynn said to her sister. "If I never said that stuff to Lincoln, we wouldn't be searching for him in the middle of a forest."

"Oh, Lynn. We already forgave you.", Leni explained. "We're trying to make amends right now, but don't hit yourself. We'll find him. And when you get the chance, you can tell him your sorry."

"...Thanks, Leni.", Lynn accepted. You're always so sweet."

And with that, Leni hugs her little sister, giving her some comfort. But then, their attention turned towards Lisa, who seemed to have uncharacteristically squealed for joy upon what she found in the crater.

"What is it, Lisa?", Leni asked. "Did you find Lincoln?"

"Better!", Lisa said with joy. "I found the fossilized remains of an Ichthyosaurus!"

"How is a rock better than finding our brother?!", Lynn said with growing frustration.

"It looks like just about every bone is here!", Lisa explained. "This could be one of the greatest in paleontology!"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far.", Lynn remarked.

"Ugh, Lisa!", Leni cried. "I'm starting to think that you're just as bad as Lori and Lola!"

"Excuse me?!", Lisa complained. "I wasn't the one who drove our dear brother away!"

"For gosh's sake!", screamed Lynn, grabbing Lisa by the collar of her sweater. "At least I'm trying to make up for what I did! I'm being serious about this while you keep getting distract by all you little scientific finds! I wouldn't being doing all this and feeling all vulnerable if I didn't want to find Lincoln more than anything!"

Lisa was both scared and surprised by Lynn. Her words spoke truthfully.

"Now, get yourself focused on finding our brother.", Lynn commanded. "You can pick at bones later."

As Lynn put Lisa down, everyone soon noticed that Rita's group was coming by already, and they seemed shocked after seeing all of that.

"What was going on here?", asked Lynn Sr.

Leni tried to explain, "It's not what it looks like."

"It looked like Lynn was about to kill Lisa.", Luan then said.

"Oh. I guess it's sort what that looks like.", Leni said sheepishly.

"Leni!", yelled out Leni.

"Okay, look.", Leni explained. "No one was trying to kill anybody here."

"Yeah, we all just had our foot in our mouths.", Lynn added.

"No we didn't.", Leni said naively. "We all just got a little angry."

Lynn, replied with a face palm, "That's what I meant, Leni!"

"Oh.", Leni exclaimed.

"Well, as long as we all can still work together.", Rita said. "We're gonna get anywhere if we're at each other's throats."

"Agreed.", Lynn said.

"Yes. Apologies for what I had said, fifth eldest sibling.", Lisa said. "I shall try not to get too distracted or blame you for our male sibling's absence."

"It's alright. I'll try not to get too angry.", accepted Lynn.

"It's good to see you kids making up.", Rita said happily. "Now, has anyone seen Lori and the others?"

"I haven't heard from then in a while.", Leni explained.

"I'll go check up on them.", Lynn said.

Rita replied,"Good luck."

"Don't worry, we're right here."

It was then that Lori shows up, not looking the least bit happy with her head covered in dirt and with Luna, Lucy and Lana trying to laugh about it right behind her...

"Uh, Lori? What happened?", Rita asked.

"I'd literally rather not talk about it.", Lori said, both Lucy decides to spill the beans herself.

"She looked for Lincoln in a rabbit hole, but got stuck because of her big hair."

"Lucy!?", Lori cried out.

Now everyone else was trying not to laugh right now. Lori wasn't sure how it could get any worse.

"I took a picture of it. Anybody wanna see?", Luna said out loud.

Lola replied, "Oh! I do!"

Lynn added, "Me too!"

Luan continued, "I gotta see that!"

While Luna showed the pictured to everyone, Lori was too preoccupied with fixing her hair to try and kill her for it.

"I had a feeling that head of hers would get the better of her someday.", Lucy remarked.

Lola replied, "She only has her thick hair to blame for that."

"We sure it's her hair that's thick?", Luan began with a joke. "'Cause I'm thinking it's more her skull that's thick!"

"Alright, enough of that!", demanded Rita. "Now, Luna. You know it was wrong of you to take picture of Lori, right?"

"...Yeah, I know.", Luna agreed. To be fair, she kinda had it coming."

Lynn Sr. then said, while trying not to laugh, "Still, as, uh...enjoyable as that is, we're gonna have to ask you to delete the picture."

"Alright, Pops, consider it done.", Luna said.

"Thank you, Luna.", Rita said.

"Though, I would consider doing it later.", Lynn Sr. said, winking at his daughter.

"Hmph.", Luna agreed.

"So, anyone have any luck finding Lincoln?", Lori asked.

"Unfortunately not.", explained Rita. "We did find a building near the edge of the woods. Looked like a business place, but it seemed strange to be in a place like this."

"And all we found were just a bunch of old bones.", Lynn said.

"Fossils!", Lisa corrected. "And this is quite the find, you know!"

"To you, maybe.", remarked Lynn.

"Well, then the only other place to check is practically all of town.", Lynn Sr. explained.

"And just like here, Lincoln could be anywhere.", Luna said.

"Well, we don't have to literally check all of Royal Woods.", Lori explained. "We could just check some places that Lincoln is familiar with."

"That's a pretty good idea.", agreed Rita. "But it's still a long list of places."

"We'll figure out our plan when we get back to town.", Lynn Sr. explained.

After a little while a backtracking their way to Royal Woods, the family started to figure out which groups they'd be in this time so that they don't wind up killing each other.

Rita had said, "Okay, before we continue, I suggest we form different groups this time around."

Lori replied, "Good call. And if anyone else makes a joke about my hair or that stupid rabbit hole, I'm gonna-"

"Lori!" Rita and Lynn Sr., cried out.

"Sorry.", apologized Lori.

"I'll go first time.", Rita decided. "Luan and Lola are sticking with me, and you too, Luna. I'm keeping my eye on you."

"That's fare.", Luna agreed.

"I'll go with Dad, Leni and Lana this time.", Lori, decides.

"Why do I have to stay with Lori?", whined Lana.

"Lana, please don't complain.", Lynn Sr. asked of his daughter.

Lana replied, "Fine."

"That leaves me with Lynn with Lucy...I can work with that.", Lisa decides.

But, Lynn Sr. replied, "I'm not sure if it's okay to leave Lynn, Lucy and Lisa on their own."

"We'll be fine, dad.:, Lynn said. "These two will be safe under my protection."

"It's safe to say that I can not argue against that.", agreed Lisa.

"Alright. Everybody, get ready to split up.", Rita commanded "See if anybody has seen Lincoln lately."

Now, with all that said, they begin to head across town to continue their search for Lincoln. Rita's group heads over to Burpin' Burger, where she begins to ask just about everybody if they've seen her boy.

"Are you sure you haven't seen Lincoln?", Rita asked an employee. "He's about this high, wears orange and has white hair?"

"I haven't seen anyone like that come at all, ma'am. Sorry.", said the employee.

Rita sighed, "Come on, girls...Girls?"

Looking over to a table, Rita sees her daughters having ordered food with her money.

"Seriously?"

"Sorry, but we were getting hungry!", complained Lola

Luan added, "This seemed like a great place to stop for some food."

"We couldn't waste the opportunity.", Luna then said.

"Hmm...", Rita then felt her stomach growl. "Ah, what the heck? I'm starving too."

With Lori's group, they were at the Aloha Comrade, where they were talking costumers while Lynn Sr. was talking to Sergei...

"Are you sure you haven't seen Lincoln around?", Lynn Sr. asked Sergei.

Sergei replied, "I can't say that I have. I'm sorry, Lynn."

Lynn Sr. sighed. "It's alright. I don't get it though. It's not like he could've gotten far...could he? He is pretty resourceful. Could be in New York by now. Ugh, I never should've let this happen."

"You shouldn't really blame yourself.", Sergei said remorsefully.

Lynn Sr then said, "Well, aside from the kids, there's no one else to blame."

"Don't give up hope, Lynn.", Sergei told his old co-worker. "To calm you down, why not have some lunch? On the house."

"Thanks, Sergei. Much appreciated.", Lynn Sr., said happily.

"Welp, no one around has seen Lincoln around.", Lori explained. "At least, not too much of him."

"Some have been saying that he's, like, been around a few places, but he was kinda hard to spot.", Leni had then said.

"And I don't even get that!", Lana yelled out. "The kid has white hair! He should stick out like a sore thumb!"

"Well, thanks for trying kids.", Lynn Sr. told his kids. "Sergei hasn't seen him either, but he's offering us a free lunch."

"That actually sounds pretty great!", agreed Leni.

Lana added, "Yeah, I'm kinda starving myself."

"I could eat.", Lori said.

Lynn Sr. replied, "Great."

And meanwhile, at the Royal Woods Baseball Stadium, Lisa, Lucy and Lynn were busy checking out the equipment and locker rooms before heading out to the stadium itself. Lynn sat on Home base while Lisa and Lucy were having their doubts that Lincoln could be here.

"Lynn, why did you drag us to one of the least places Lincoln could be found?", Lisa asked.

"Yeah.", Lucy agreed. "Baseball is not exactly his favorite sport, you know."

"...Thought we could use a break.", Lynn explained. "I'm just getting tired, that's all."

"Wow.", remarked Lisa. "After all that lecturing I was given about not being distracted, here you are, distracting yourself!"

"Hey! I know where my mind is set, Lisa!", Lynn yelled. "I don't just find one thing and forget all about the other thing I'm supposed to be looking for!"

"Please, you two. Shut this down.", Lucy asked of them.

"Very well.", Lisa agreed." You can relax then, Lynn, while I actually look for our male sibling."

Heading over to the bleachers, Lisa uses springs attached to her shoes to extend herself 5 yards off the ground. When Lynn saw that, it did not amuse her...

"Okay, why did you just do that before?", Lynn complained.

Lisa replied, "Was there a good reason to?"

"Girls...", Lucy said before being cut off.

"Yeah, actually! If you'd done that before, you could've scoped out the entire town and we would've found Lincoln by now!", Lynn yelled out.

Out of frustration, Lynn kicks one of the springs, causing it to break and Lisa ends up falling back to solid ground. As she got up, she looked pretty mad and it looked like the two were about to break out in a fight. Luckily, Lucy stepped in.

"Enough, you two. Stop this before it gets any worse.", Lucy demanded.

"...Fine.", Lynn said.

"Fine.", Lisa said as well.

"Fine!", they both said in sync.

* * *

Later, at Lynn's Table, Rita and Lori's group show up and they ask if anyone has seen Lincoln around.

"We got no luck.", Rita said, feeling hopeless. "No one has seen Lincoln."

"We didn't have any either.", Lori said, feeling the same way. "Barely a few people has seen Lincoln around."

"But at least we finally got to eat something after searching all day.", said Lana.

"Yeah. But now, I'm starting to wonder where Lisa, Lucy and Lynn are.", Luna asked.

Just as they asked that, Lisa's group coincidentally show up at the time, Lisa and Lynn looking like a mess and Lucy just keeping her head down.

"Girls? What happened to-?", Lynn Sr. began to ask.

Lucy interrupted, saying, "Don't ask."

"We don't want to talk about it.", Lynn and Lisa said in sync.

"Well, it's been a long day", Lynn said. "How about we head home and check up on Lily and the girls?"

"Good idea.", Rita replied.

* * *

**I don't mind making this story, but I would appreciate it if the guy who requested it didn't show up every day in the morning to see if I was willing to make it.**


	10. Chapter 10: Putting her foot down

As if right now, Lincoln, Dana and Chaz were heading down the street to meet some friends of theirs. They were meeting up with Whitney, Mandee, Jackie, Shannon and Mazzy. It wasn't easy being out in the open, they practically had to hide Lincoln from anyone that might be looking for him; he really didn't want to be found. It wasn't long before they met up with the rest of the girls.

"How's it going with Dana, Lincoln?", asked Whitney.

Lincoln replied, "It's going great. She's been treating me well."

"Yeah, he's was easier to deal with that some others.", Dana agreed.

Knowing who she was referring to, Chaz tried his best to avoid Dana's glare as the other girls were beginning to understand what she meant.

"So, we're guess Chaz hasn't been easy?", Mandee remarked.

Dana said, "Nope."

Jackie added on, "He's a push over, isn't he?"

Dana answered, "More than I can say, yes."

Chaz sighed.

"Nevermind that. I got some news.", Whitney explained. "From what I heard, the Louds are looking for Lincoln right now."

"What?", said Lincoln, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, they've been searching non-stop, from the woods to all of the town.", explained Mazzy.

"Why would they look in the woods?", Lincoln asked.

Shannon replied, "Most likely, they probably thought you skipped town."

"My point is that we gotta be more careful whenever Lincoln's out in the open.", Whitney said.

Mandee added, "We should get some more people to throw the Louds off the trail."

"Yeah, and make sure that Lincoln is kept safe and sound.", Jackie continued.

"Sounds good.", Whitney agreed. "How does that sound, Lincoln?"

"...Kinda a bit much, but okay.", accepted Lincoln.

"Good. Now, who are you gonna go with today?", Whitney asked.

"Well, why not you, Whitney?", Lincoln said.

Whitney seemed surprised, "Really? Me?"

Lincoln replied, "Yeah, you seem to be helping out a lot."

"Hey! What are we? Chopped liver?", Mandee complained.

"You'll get your turn girls.", Whitney said to them. "Alright, Lincoln."

"Cool.", said Lincoln.

"I was actually thinking of staying at someplace else other than Dana's.", Chaz then said.

Jackie replied, "Well, if you want, you can stay with me and Mandee."

"Wait, you AND Mandee?", asked Chaz.

"Yeah, we live together.", Mandee said. "We're roommates."

"That'd be great.", said Chaz.

"Girls, be forewarned that having Chaz around could have it's... disadvantages.", Dana said, warning the two.

Mandee asked, "What do you mean?"

"Let's just say that he's sort of a pushover.", Dana explained.

"Sheesh, I'm getting it from all sides today, aren't I?", Chaz remarked.

"Never mind that. We oughta split right now. ", Mandee said. "Can be out in the open for too long."

"Agreed.", Shannon said. "The Louds might still be looking for Lincoln even now."

"Alright then. Come along, Lincoln.", said Whitney.

And with that said, they all disembark before anymore attention was sprung.

"I might have a few things planned for us to do.", Whitney say.

Lincoln replied, "I would hope so. This might be fun."

Also, I kinda need someone to help out with my hair.", Whitney told him.

"Not a problem at all, Whitney.", Lincoln said, as the two of them headed off.

"I'm just wondering how long we're gonna keep this up.", thought Shannon.

"I'm sure it won't be much of a problem, Shannon.", Dana replied, having themselves head off as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Louds were heading home after a long day of searching for Lincoln, with no success. The entire time, they were silent and it was unnerving for the parents, as they felt like their daughters missed their brother; Lord knows they did too. It was something they vowed not to give up on as they parked in the driveway and got out of their van.

"Well, we may have had no luck today, but let's look at the bright side.", Rita said.

"And just what would that be?", Lori asked.

"...Aside from finally getting a chance to eat, I got nothing.", Rita hopelessly said.

"I hope Lincoln's okay.", Leni pleaded.

Lynn remarked, "We've should've looked harder in other places."

"I wish weren't all at each other's throats.", Luna said sadly.

"Can we please just go back inside?", Lola said. "I'm tired."

"I'm wondering how Ronnie Anne and the other girls were with Lily.", Lana said.

"Well, only one way to find out.", said Lynn Sr., unlocking the front door.

Upon opening the door, they found the house looking empty, and decided to look around to see if the girls were still around. It wasn't long before they found them all in Lori's room. Ronnie Anne was on her phone, Girl Jordan and Renee were talking to one another and Mollie and Kat were looking after Lily, with Mollie mostly cuddling her.

"What are you all doing in my room?", Lori said.

Ronnie Anne replied, "We needed to be somewhere to take care of Lily"

"You couldn't have just been in the living room?", Lori remarked.

"Alright! Give it a rest, Lori.", Lynn Sr. commanded. "Girls, thanks for watching over Lily while we were gone."

"How did the search for Lincoln go?", Girl Jordan asked.

Lynn Sr. replied, "It could've been a lot better than how it went."

"Sorry to hear that.", Renee said. "Maybe we can help."

"You girls have already done enough. Thank you."Lynn Sr. said.

"...Lori? Can I talk to you and Lola alone?", Ronnie Anne asked.

"Uh...sure.", Lori agreed, unsure.

"Let's...head to the backyard.", said Ronnie Anne. "It's more private there."

"...Whatever.", accepted Lori.

And with that said, Lori and Ronnie Anne headed downstairs, where they got Lola and then headed outside to the backyard...

"So, what did you want to talk about?", Lola asked.

"Oh, nothing.", Ronnie Anne said blankly. "Just...how I'm going to kill you."

"What?", Lori said in sudden shock.

Without warning, Ronnie was suddenly on top of Lori with her arms around her neck. This frightened Lola, who kept away out of fear. Lori was trying to keep herself from falling and was struggling to get Ronnie Anne off of her.

"GET...OFF!"

With some effort, Lori managed to pull Ronnie Anne off and throw her to the ground. As Ronnie Anne recovered, Lori was gasping for air and Lola stood in Ronnie Anne's way from trying to kill Lori.

L"What's the matter with you?!", Lola yelled.

"Me? What about you two?!", Ronnie Anne scream. "Both of you are simply getting what you deserve!"

"What are you talking about?!", Lori asked, breathing heavily. "Wait...you're talking about Lincoln, aren't you?!"

R"Yeah, and someone has to kick your butts, since he's not here to do it himself!", Ronnie Anne yelled, cracking her knuckles.

"You're crazy!", Lola said. "You have no right to do this to us!"

"Oh, I think I do!", Ronnie Anne growled. "This is what you get for treating your own brother like dirt!"

"Can't you just let it go?!", asked Lori, panicking.

"No!", Ronnie Anne roared. "Lincoln's my friend and you both had this coming!"

Lola then asked, "Well, what about Lynn?"

"Lynn's making up for what she's done, and Lincoln already punched her in the face.", Ronnie Anne explained. "I'd say she's had enough while you two barely even got what's coming!"

"Oh my gosh, Ronnie Anne, karma is already biting at our ankles!", Lori yelled. "We're suffering already enough as it is!"

"It's not enough for me! You two don't deserve Lincoln as a brother!", Ronnie Anne growled. "He's willing to do anything for you, and your barely show any appreciation!"

"Don't you think we miss him too?!", Lori said as her voice began to break. "Without him...we'd be nothing."

While they were shouting with each other, the other girls could see everything that was going on outside from the window in Luna and Luan's room. It was a actually a bit terrifying and made Lily cry in Mollie's arm, having her hold her closely.

"This went bat real fast.", Mollie said.

"Yep.", Renee agreed.

"Big time.", Kat added.

"Uh huh.", Girl Jordan continued.

Back to Ronnie Anne, Lori, Lola...

"If you really did care for him, you'd know where to look!", Ronnie Anne yelled out.

"At least we're making progress!", Lola said, "I don't see you doing anything to find out where he is!"

"Maybe not, but I know for sure's better off without you!", Ronnie Anne roared.

Not wanting to see anymore of this, the girls had down stairs to put an end to this.

"Someone's gotta step in!", Girl Jordan screamed.

"...Ah, what the heck.", Kat yelled. "Guys, stop it right now!"

It was then that Kat got in between Ronnie Anne and the Loud sisters.

"Look, Ronnie Anne, I know you're upset and angry, but-", Kat started to say.

"Oh, those words don't even begin to cut it!" interrupted a furious Ronnie Anne.

"I know, but now is not the time for this!", Kat said. "Lincoln may have left because of them, but he wouldn't want to see them hurt!"

"...Fine.", Ronnie Anne said, calming down. "I'll kill them later."

"Good.", Kat sighed. "Now, let's all head inside. We got some stuff to discuss."

"Hold on, can someone else hold Lily? She's getting heavy.", said Mollie.

Lily felt a little offended by that, but was calmed down when Kat pets her on the head. Without warning, Mollie passes Lily over to Girl Jordan. For a second, Lily looked over to Ronnie Anne and thought she was still a little scary looking and then hugged Girl Jordan tightly, not wanting to leave the comfort of anybody.

"It's okay, Lily.", Girl Jordan said. "It's okay. Let's just head inside already."

After a a few moments, the girls were talking to Mr. and Mrs. Loud in the dining about how they could help in finding Lincoln...

"And that's why we would consider ourselves a big help.", Girl Jordan explained.

Lynn Sr. replied, "Listen, girls, we appreciate the thought of having more people to help out, but-"

"Just say yes, man!", Ronnie Anne rudely interrupted. "We'd be doing you a favor!"

"Ronnie Anne!", Mollie yelled out.

"Honey, Ronnie Anne is one of Lincoln's closest friends.", Rita explained. "She really could be useful."

"Hmm...alright, you girls can help.", accepted Lynn Sr.

"Awesome.", Girl Jordan said.

The thought of having these girls help find their brother had made Lily feel happy, as she cuddles closely to Girl Jordan. Seeing how happy the baby girl was now made Girl Jordan feel a little better about the whole situation...


	11. Chapter 11: A New Enemy

**Just so you know, I think this series is going nowhere as well.**

* * *

At the moment, Lincoln and Whitney were heading over to the club, since it was the open tonight. They had a great time together, but now they think the night was just beginning. As they headed over there, they already saw some friends of theirs waiting outside; Mandee, Jackie, Chaz, Parvanna, Lyberti and Rex, to be exact. Mandee and Jackie were looking pretty worn out, and both Lincoln and Whitney could take a wild guess why.

"Well, looks like some of you guys are already here.", Whitney said to them.

"How's it going with Chaz, you two?", Lincoln asked.

Mandee replied, "We've been better."

Jackie added, "I feel like an old woman. How were things with you two?"

"It was great!", said Whitney. "Lincoln is such a nice guy to have around. He helped me out with my hair a lot."

* * *

A few days earlier, Lincoln was helping Whitney out with the curly part of her hair.

"You sure you don't mind doing this, Lincoln?", asked Whitney.

"Not at all.", answered Lincoln. "I used to help out with my sisters' hair all the time."

"Well, they'd be fools to reject your help.", Whitney remarked.

Lincoln then said, "If I may ask, why do you have so much trouble with your hair?"

"It just...gets in the way a lot.", Whitney answered.

"Like...like what?", Lincoln asked.

"Well, one time, it got caught on a closed window...", Whitney explained.

It was then that Whitney remembered when the wind close a window she was leaning on, and her hair got stuck for hours...

"Then, there was the rosebush..."

Then, she begins to remember the one time she fell face first into a rosebush, and she ended with thorns stuck in hair and face...

"And then, the fan..."

And, there's was the worst memory of all, where hair was somehow caught in a ceiling fan...

"I'm not even sure how that one happened.", Whitney said. "Oh, in my hands even got caught in my hair once, but I'd rather not talk about that."

"Ooookaaaay.". Lincoln said, weirded out. "Welp, I'm just about finished here."

"Awesome.", Whitney said. "And since there's still some day time left, wanna go play some tennis with me outside?"

"I don't know. I never really played it before.", Lincoln said.

Whitney replied, "I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Okay.", Lincoln accepted.

Heading outside and grabbing a pair of tennis rackets and balls along the way, the two engaged in a friendly game of tennis. And, Lincoln wasn't very good at it; he was decent, but just not the best.

"You got this, Lincoln!", Whitney told him. "It's all about timing and arm strength!"

"Okay! I got this!", Lincoln said with confidence.

He may have gotten hit in the face a few times with a tennis ball. But, from Whitney's perspective, he really was doing alright...

"Okay, I think we should take a break.", Lincoln said with exhuastion.

Whitney remarked, "You did great."

"You think so, huh?", asked Lincoln.

Whitney replied, "Yeah, of course, I do."

"Meh. Could've been better for me.", Lincoln remarked

"Ah, come here.", Whitney said.

Kneeling to get down to his level, Whitney surprises Lincoln with a small kiss on the cheek, which caused him to blush. Feeling flattered, Lincoln returns the favor by surprising Whitney with a tight hug, and she too embraced him the same way.

* * *

Hearing about the time Lincoln and Whitney spent together made everyone feel touched. But now, it was their turn to ask how their time went...

"So...Mandee, Jackie, how'd it go with Chaz?", Whitney asked.

Mandee replied, "...It was a workout."

"A painful one.", jackie added.

"Uh, guys?"

It was then that everyone noticed that Chaz was stuck in the front door.

"A little help?", he said.

"Unbelievable.", Mandee said.

"We've had to deal with that all weekend.", Jackie explained. "Mandee, I think it's your turn."

"Come on! My arms are half dead at this point!", complained Mandee.

"Just do it!", Jackie yelled.

"Fine.", Mandee sadly accepted.

With that, Mandee begins to push Chaz through the door with her right arm and shoulder. Yet, she fails to notice that Jackie had taken out her phone and begins to videotape the whole thing.

"Dang it, Chaz! Why do you have to be so fat?!", Mandee yelled in frutration.

"Hey!", Chaz said back.

"Oh, hush! You know it's true!", Mandee said as she continued to push.

"Heh. This is gold.", Jackie said as she recorded it all.

Parvana asked them, "Have you two had to deal with this a lot?"

"Unfortunately, yes.", answered Jackie. "He even got stuck in our porch door, and it was a slider! Though...I blame Mandee."

"Huh.", Parvana thought.

After Mandee decides to kick Chaz through the door because she was getting tired, everyone else went and headed over to a table to talk about the plan they had in store.

"So, have any of you thought of a way to keep the Louds from finding Lincoln?", Whitney asked them.

"Actually, we have.", Lyberti begins to explain. "You see, we've managed to convince some of our friends to go all around Royal Woods in look out for them."

"How the heck did you manage to do that?", Lincoln asked.

"We have our ways.", Lyberti said weirdly. "Which reminds me..."

And then she takes out a walkie-talkie.

"Shannon, are you in position?"

Somewhere in Royal Woods, Shannon was on the rooftop of a building overlooking most of the town."

"Yep, I'm here.", Shannon answered.

"Any sign of the Louds yet?", Lyberti asked through the walkie-talkie

"Nothing from where I'm standing.", Shannon says while running her hand through her hair. "But, the others have gotten a few sightings of them."

"Good. Carry on.", Lyberti said.

"So...do you all keep in touch with each other through walkie-talkies?", Lincoln then asked.

"Not just that, but also something else.", Parvana explained. "Allow me to show you."

Getting up, Parvana was about to walk away to go get something, and it was then that Whitney noticed something Parvana's Hijab that seemed a bit off...

"Um, Parvana?", Whitney began to ask.

"What is it?", she answered.

"Where did that stain come from?", Whitney asked her.

Parvana replied"What stain?"

"On your...", Whitney points to her head.

"Oh, my hijab?", Parvana said, adjusting it. "It's just from time I let Lincoln use it."

"I...used it as a tissue.", Lincoln said awkwardly.

"Seriously?", Whitney said, almost grossed out.

"I didn't mind. He needed it.", Parvana explained. "Now, if you excuse me..."

Heading to pick up something, it turned out to be some kind of computer. Opening it, the screen turned onto Carol, who was somewhere else in Royal Woods.

"Hey, Carol. How's it going?", Parvana asked.

"I wish I picked a better spot to stakeout.", Carol whined. "It smells like a dumpster."

"...That's because you're right next to one.", Parvana explained.

Carol was in an alleyway, with a smelly old dumpster in it.

"Right.", Carol accepted.

Parvana then asked, "Any sign of the Louds from your position?"

"Actually, yeah.", Carol said. "I see Mr. and Mrs. Loud right now."

Rita and Lynn Sr. were seen near a clothing store from where Carol stood. Soon after, they head in.

"They're heading to some kind of clothing store." She said. "I'm going in after them."

"Okay, just don't get caught.", Parvana told her.

Heading into the clothing store, Carol hides behind a few racks of clothing, while continuing to monitor the Louds, who seem to be looking for some clothes themselves.

"Hmm, guess they're taking a break from searching.", Carol thought.

What do you think, honey? You think these could fit me?", Rita said, holding a pair of leggings.

"I'd say they look good on your just fine.", Lynn Sr. said, flirting.

"Oh, Lynn.", Rita said, flustered.

Carol shuddered, saying, "I did not need to see that."

"Neither did we.", Parvana said, grossed out.

"Why do they always do stuff like that?", asked Lincoln, embarrassed about his parents right now.

"Keep doing what you're doing, Carol.", Parvana said. "We'll be in touch."

"Alright.", Carol said.

Typing on the computer, Parvana switched the video feed over to Miguel, who was a large water tower. And by the look on his face, he seemed afraid.

"Miguel? How's it going up there?"

"Oh, fine! Fine! Just peachy!", Miguel said sarcastically.

"Are you sure?", Parvana asked. "It doesn't sound too peachy."

"I...may have forgot to tell you this, but...I'm afraid of heights.", Miguel struggled to say.

"Seriously?", asked Lyberti, surprised. "You chose to do a rooftop patrol, saying you were okay with it!"

"Yeah, I didn't expect to be so high off the ground, where it feels like I'm gonna die!", Miguel yelled out.

"Well, just try some deep breathing then.", Jackie told him. "And tell us if you see anything from where you're standing."

"But, it's cold as-", Miguel began to say.

"Next!", Parvana said, typing on the computer.

And now, the video feed switches over to Fiona, who looked like she was in a car right now. A ford to be exact, with a red flame pain job. She was actually eating right now, since this seemed to be taking a while.

"Hey, guys.", said Fiona, taking a bite out of her snack.

"Hello, Fiona.", Parvana said. "Do you see the Louds from where you are?"

"Nothing yet. You know, it's kinda late.", Fiona explained. "You really think they would be-? Wait. Nevermind, I see them. Two of them, anyway."

"Who do you see?", asked Parvana.

"Looks like Lori and Lola.", Fiona said.

Lincoln's looked like he was having some mixed emotions after hearing the names of his sisters. Speaking of who, Lori and Lola were not at all happy right now. They were pretty mad, not at their family, Ronnie Anne and certainly not Lincoln. It was more like they were angry at themselves, and each other.

"You know, this is kinda your fault, Lori!", Lola yelled.

"Don't put this all on me!", Lori said back. "You're responsible for this too!"

"If you didn't treat Lincoln so badly for just that one mistake, he would still be home with right now!", Lola continue to complain.

"We both treated him badly!", Lori told her. Don't think you're coming off clean here!"

"Whatever!", Lola growled. 'But we don't deserve to be treated like dirt for what we did!"

"We had it coming, Lola! Don't you see that?!" Lori roared. "We pretty much deserve everything that was coming our way!"

After that outburst, their anger turned to sadness, realizing how bad they both are.

"I miss him.", Lola said with tears forming in her eyes.

"So do I.", Lori said in a low voice.

While they continued to walk by, Fiona, who hid in the car, listened to everything and felt bad for them both...

"Did...did you guys here all that?", Fiona asked them.

"Yep. I'm starting to feel bad for them.", Parvana said. "What do you think, Lincoln?"

Turning to Lincoln, they saw that the boy was on the verge of crying...

"I miss them too!", Lincoln cried out with a breaking voice.

With that, Lincoln hugs Mandee, who was sitting next to him and she just comforts while the others start to feel bad about all this. Jackie and Rex especially, since they were right next to both of them. Meanwhile, Fiona was listening in, feeling bad too about how Lincoln missing his sisters.

"Sorry you had to witness that, Lincoln.", Fiona said, giving her condolences.

"It's okay.", Lincoln said, sniffing.

"Should I keep tracking them?", Fiona asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Fiona.", Parvana warned her. "It'd look creepy if they find out somebody is following them around with a car.'

"Right. So, what do you want me to do now?", Fiona asked.

"Hmm...go over to where Miguel is at.", Parvana said. "He could use some help getting off the water tower."

"Got it. I'll be in touch, guys.", said Fiona as she signed off.

There was one last person to check up on, and that was Mazzy. Switching over to her frequency, they found her eating a burrito...

"Mmm...Heeey.", Mazzy said while taking a break.

"Hey, Mazzy. Do you see anything from where you're standing?", asked Parvana.

"Nope, sorry.", Mazzy said, taking another bite. "I've check like three times, still nothing."

Lincoln then asked her, "Wait, are you at Flip's?"

"Noooo...why ask?", Mazzy asked sheepishly.

"I can see the sign."

Mazzy felt a little embarrassed about the situation, turning around to see Flip's Food & Fuel right behind her...

"...My bad.", Mazzy said with a full mouth.

"Mazzy!", yelled Parvana.

Lyberti told her, "Stay focused!"

"You need to keep watch for the Louds!", Whitney complained.

"I was hungry!", Mazzy argued. Give me a break!"

"Please, just get back to your post when you can.", Parvana sighed.

"Got it. Don't worry.", Mazzy said.

Whitney rolled her eyes as she said, "We'll be getting more people out there soon, Lincoln."

"Okay, but if I may ask...", Lincoln said. "Don't you guys think you're taking this whole thing a bit too seriously?"

"Don't worry, Lincoln.", Whitney said. We have a perfect reason for all this. Trust us."

Accepting, Lincoln said, "Okay then."

He knew they were hiding something from him, and it had to have been something bit, considering what steps they're taking to defend. If it was that bad, it made Lincoln worry, wondering what exactly was going on around here. The others could see how Lincoln was growing concerned, and they quickly decide to snap him out of it.

"Uh, Parvana?", Whitney asked. "Why don't you go with Lincoln to get some food, alright?"

"Sure! I'll do just that!", Parvana said over-enthusiastically. "Come along, Lincoln!"

"Uh, Okay.", said Lincoln, unsure.

As Parvana took Lincoln over to the buffet table, the others gather up after avoiding a close call.

"Okay, that seemed a little too close.", Whitney sighed. "I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this from him."

"We have to.", said Mandee. "It's the only way we can protect him for right now."

"He's eventually gonna find out anyway, he's a smart kid.", Jackie added,

"Yeah, but I don't think telling him right now is gonna make the situation any better.", Mandee said.

"Mandee's right. The less he knows, the better.", Whitney said. "With HER still out there, we can't afford to take any chances."

"I never liked that psycho chick.", Jackie said. "Always figured she had some loose screws."

"That doesn't matter.", Whitney pointed out. "If our hunch is correct and she's after Lincoln, protecting him this way is safer for him and his family."

* * *

The person they were talking about was somewhere in the woods, in an abandoned warehouse, the only place she claimed to be her home. Whoever it was, they were training themselves to fight with naginata spear, slashing, thrusting, spinning it like a bow staff. With every blow that she made, each seemed more vicious than the last, cutting through the ground, the walls, a few dummies she had put for herself to mutilate. And once she was done, as she could barely catch her breath, she tossed her weapon aside and headed over to a table, on the tables and taped to the walls were pictures of some popular teens all from Royal words. The one she had marked...was a picture of Lincoln...

"How I envy you, kid. You got so much to love. A family who doesn't disrespect you, friends who don't neglect you. You have it all...everything I never had."

Taking a knife, she stabs through the picture of Lincoln, shredding the face apart."

"Don't worry though. I'll soon rid you of these burdens. Once I find where you are."

Tossing the torn up picture aside, she gets her naginata and heads for the door. In the light of the moon, she could be seen wearing a leather jacket, dark red shirt with a snake symbol on it, a green skirt with yellow stripes. She had a jade necklace wrapped in a golden snake, her hair was neon purple tied in two long ponytails behind her head, and on her face, there was make up that seemed be running from tears for some time. Placing her weapon on her back, she looks over to the town near by...

"I'll make them remember. I'll make them notice me."


	12. Chapter 12: The Reveal

It's been a long night, still no sign of Lincoln. All this searching has gotten some of the Louds and the Girls a bit famished. Ronnie Anne, Girl Jordan, Luna and Lana decided to head over to Lynn's Table and grab themselves something to eat. Since their dad owns the place, they have access to the place after hours. Though they were just kids, and weren't the best cooks, they worked with they had and made something decent for themselves. Luna made a herself a piece of steak, Lana had Mac n Cheese, Girl Jordan got a salad and Ronnie Anne...well she didn't have anything, being too upset to eat...

"Ronnie Anne. Aren't you gonna eat something?", Girl Jordan asked.

"No...", Ronnie Anne blankly answered.

"Come on.", Lana said. "You won't go any further on an empty stomach."

Ronnie Anne said nothing.

"Your loss.", shrugged Luna.

Luna was trying to eat big pieces of her steak, but she barely seemed to sink her teeth into. So, Girl Jordan decided to help her.

"Cut it into smaller pieces, Luna. It's easier that way."

"Like this?", asked Luna as she cuts her steak.

"Yeah, just like that.", Girl Jordan asked.

"Do you guys think Lincoln's out there somewhere safe?", asked Lana.

"Yeah, he probably is.", Ronnie Anne answered. "He's probably with somewhere who he knows. Lots of people are willing to take in Lincoln."

"Yeah, but there's way too many people to check and it's not like they'd give up Lincoln easily.", Luna said.

"If only we knew someone who would be in touch with that kind of people.", Girl Jordan said, talking about Ronnie Anne.

Trying to change the subject, Ronnie Anne said."...You know, I'm feeling kinda hungry right now."

"Really?", Luna asked.

"Yeah, why not? I could eat.", Ronnie Anne said sheepishly.

All for of them failed to notice that was someone else in the restaurant, far from where they're sitting. Though their head was blocked by hood, a bit of jagged purple hair could be seen. It was Cherry. Somehow, she managed to get in through the air ducts and was now inside. That's not to say it wasn't easy coming in here, since her head hurt from her ponytails getting caught in ducts.

"Definitely gonna need a haircut later.", Cherry said to herself.

"Okay, I might have a hunch as to where Lincoln might be, thanks to Carlota.", Ronnie Anne confessed.

"And you wanted this long to tell us?", Lana asked, almost angry.

Luna then said, "Hey. All that matters is that might lead us somewhere Lincoln might be."

:"You guys wanna head there now?", Girl Jordan asked.

"Yeah! I wanna see my brother!", Lana yelled out.

"Me too!", Luna agreed.

Girl Jordan:"Lead the way, Ronnie Anne?"

"Okay fine.", Ronnie Anne allowed.

By the time they left the restaurant, Cherry had already gone out the way she came in...which was just as uncomfortable the second time.

"Okay, I'm never using the air ducts again.", she said herself.

From where she stood, she saw the girls walking away from the restaurant. She wasn't gonna let them go easily.

"May not lead directly to the kid, but it's a start."

* * *

Meanwhile, Fiona had just picked up Miguel from the water tower, and she wasn't too happy about it.

"You know, you could've told us you were afraid of heights before we picked positions."

"I forgot, alright?!", Miguel yelled. "It's been a while, and I didn't really know where I was gonna be!"

"We picked locations from a hat!", Fiona argued. "You're clearly said 'water tower'! And, you weren't complaining!"

"I thought I could handle it!", he complained. Give me a break!"

There was a bit of an awkward silence between those two for a while, until something else came to Miguel's mind.

"So, do you think Cherry's really back?", he then asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure of it.", Fiona answered.

"That girl always had a few screws loose.", Miguel remarked.

"Yeah. A shame we couldn't have all been friends." Fiona said. "She could've been a whole different person."

"We tried to help her out. Tried to reason with her.", explained Miguel. "Remember what she did with that snake?"

"I try to forget that.", Fiona shuddered.

While they were talking, they almost didn't notice someone in the middle of the road. They would've hit them if Fiona hadn't swerved out of the way. They freaked out while the person seemed to have as still as a statue.

"Oh my gosh! That was too close!"

"Yeah! Why the heck would someone be out in the middle of the road?!", Miguel said, freaking out.

"I don't know.", Fiona said, holding onto her chest. "That was scary."

"Hmm...Hey, I think I see some of Lincoln's sister up ahead.", said Miguel, pointing ahead.

Around the corner of a sidewalk, Ronnie Anne and the other girls were heading their direction.

"You think we should go talk to them?", Fiona asked.

"I don't know.", Miguel shrugged. "Do you think it's okay?"

"Well, as long as they don't find out we're technically spying on them.", Fiona suggested.

"...Okay.", Miguel accepted.

From where the girls were standing, they saw Fiona and Miguel pullover and get out of the car to greet them.

"Fiona? Miguel?", said Luna, surprised to see them.

"How're you guys doing?", Miguel asked them.

"We're fine.", Ronnie Anne said. "We just ate."

"Technically, you didn't eat anything, Ronnie Anne.", Girl Jordan explained.

"You guys...still looking for Lincoln?", Fiona asked them.

"Yeah, still looking.", Lana answered. "Ronnie Anne says she's got a lead though."

"Oh, really?", Fiona said, glaring at Ronnie Anne.

Ronnie Anne gave a (0_o'), expression.

"...Really.", said Luna. "We were gonna head over there right now."

"So...what are you guys doing?", asked Ronnie Anne.

"Oh, right now, we're just...getting some air.", Miguel said. "Almost...hit a person on the road."

"Oh my gosh, are they okay?", Girl Jordan said, sounding shocked.

"Not sure yet." Fiona said. "We're gonna go see right now."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about me! I'm fine! Why, I've never felt more alive!"

That voice sounded awfully familiar to Fiona and Miguel, as they saw the person 3 yards away from them. They saw that the person was wearing mostly black with a green skirt, had a knife attached to their belt and looked to have been holding a spear in their hands.

"Are...are you sure you're okay?", Miguel asked them.

"Never better."

Walking towards the person, their grip on the weapon tightened as they turned their head and showed their running makeup covered face and unkept cut purple hair. At first, Miguel and Fiona didn't know who she was, but they were soon horrified to realize they were looking at an old friend.

"My gosh...Cherry.", Fiona said, sounding shocked and afraid.

"Long time, no see. Fiona...Miguel."

"It's...it's been a while.", Miguel said nervously.

"Yeah. No duh, Einstein.", Cherry said, insultingly.

"Wait. I'm sorry, who is this?", Ronnie interrupted.

"My name's Cherry. Cherry Willis, and I've been looking...for a certain white-haired boy...who everyone seemed to cared for.", Cherry introduced herself.

"She just described...", Lana said before stopping.

"What do you want for our brother, Lincoln?", Luna asked, demanding an answer.

"Your brother?", Cherry asked. "Oh, so you must be the Louds. Well, what I want with him is my concern alone, and these two here are gonna tell me exactly...where he...is."

She points her naginata towards all them.

"Cherry, just...just calm down, alright?", Miguel said, trying to negotiate. "Let's talk about this normally-"

"Miguel, just shut up!", Cherry yelled out angrily.

"Whatever you're planning on doing with Lincoln, you can forget about it, lady!", Ronnie Anne said back to her.

"Really?", Cherry said mockingly. "And you think you can stop me?"

"Yeah, I think I will.", said Ronnie Anne, tightening her fist.

"I'd like to see you try!", remarked Cherry.

"Ronnie Anne, don't!", Luna yelled out.

Ronnie Anne cried out, "Bring it!"

And with that said, Cherry begins charging at them. Terrified, everyone gets out of the way, all except Ronnie Anne, who decides to charge back. Making the first move, Cherry swings her naginata, hoping for Ronnie Anne's head to come clean off. But Ronnie Annie ducks and swiftly dodges the upcoming attack, beginning to run from Cherry. Giving chase, Cherry repeatedly swings her weapon at Ronnie Anne, wanting to land something once she's close enough. Wanting to get away, Ronnie Anne heads up a tree, just as Cherry trusts her blade forward and having it get stuck in the trunk. As Cherry desperately tries to pull out her blade, Ronnie Anne takes this as her opportunity to retaliate, jumping from the branch she was on grabbing the knife from Cherry's belt.

"Hey! That's mine!.", Cherry yelled out.

Ronnie waved Cherry's knife in her hand. "Well...come and get it!"

"I doubt you even know how to use that thing!", Cherry screamed! "You shouldn't play with knives!"

"Oh, well...", Ronnie Anne said, right before...

Just as Cherry was getting her naginata free, Ronnie Anne throws the knife in her hand at the maniac. But with her blade finally getting free, Cherry blocks Ronnie Anne's attack, having a crazy smile on her face as she went back to rapidly swinging her naginata at her. Without warning, Ronnie Anne ends blocks the naginata from coming any closer with her forearm, inches away from the blade.

"What? How did you-?!", Cherry exclaimed.

She may have not lost an arm...but it still hurt like heck. Taking this as her chance, Ronnie Anne started throwing punches at Cherry, getting her in the face twice before Cherry punches her in face and begins to back away, making Ronnie Anne begin to miss every time...

"That's all you got?!", she's says while laughing evilly.

But then, Cherry takes the blunt end of the naginata and hits Ronnie Anne in the stomach, forcing her to go down. And just as she was about to finish her off, Fiona charges and barges into Cherry,.making her drop her weapon and she found herself on top of the psycho chick. Cherry quickly manages to get her off and kicks her from behind, allowing her to recover and get back on her feet.

"Hmph! You guys got off easy!"

Grabbing something from her belt, she throws it to the floor and a puff a smoke emerges. The group had then lost sight of Cherry, as she had fled from the scene...

"She's gone.", said Fiona.

"We gotta warn the others. Fast!", Miguel said as he takes out her phone.

"You alright?", Fiona says as she helped Ronnie Anne was.

"Yeah, but...just who the heck was that?", Ronnie Anne demanded.

"Well..."

"You kinda owe that to us!", Girl Jordan yelled.

"Yeah, who was that?", Lana asked.

"Eh-"

"Start explaining yourself, Fiona!", Luna screamed.

"Would you just shut up for a second so that I could talk?!", Fiona said as everyone stopped talked. "...Thank you. Now, to explain...that girl was Cherry Willis. And she used to be...an old friend of ours...or so we thought..."


	13. Chapter 13: Origin of Cherry

"You say she attacked you guys? And then she just vanished?", Whitney asked over her phone "...Okay. We're gonna get ready to move Lincoln again as soon as possible. Make sure that the others, then head back here."

"What is going on?", Lincoln asked.

"Oh, nothing.", Whitney said with a nervous smile. "But we're not gonna want to stay here for much longer. So, we'll need to chose now who's gonna take Lincoln with them this time."

"I'll take him.", Parvana said.

"Parvana?", Whitney asked.

"It'll save us any trouble.", Parvana explained. "We don't have much time to waste."

Having heard about Fiona and Miguel's encounter with Cherry, they teens were racing the clock to get Lincoln somewhere safe quickly. Shannon and Carol had returned from their positions to have heard about the bad news. Knowing the psycho chick, she could be just about anywhere, so they're not taking any chances. And the reason being why they haven't told Lincoln anything about this is because they want to avoid him worrying about someone who possibly wants to kill him.

"Hey, what about me?", Chaz asked. "Who am I gonna go with this time?"

"Uh...go with Shannon.", Mandee suggested.

Shannon was surprised. "What? Me? What?"

"...Okay.", Chaz accepts.

"You guys are kidding, right?", Shannon asked, not wanting to deal with him.

"Nope.", Jackie replied.

"Just go with it.", Mandee added.

Shannon groaned in frustration.

"I'll go wait outside.", Chaz said.

"Chaz, no." Shannon said. "I don't think that's a good-"

And, as before, Chaz manages to get himself stuck through the front door of the club...again. This forces Shannon to try to push him through, using her back, but considering how he is way bigger than her, she got tired easily. Getting frustrated, Shannon takes a few steps back and the charges at Chaz, using her elbow to push him straight through the door. The impact was enough to make go sliding onto the sidewalk...

"Ow.", Chaz said with a muffled voice.

"Okay...Dana, what have you been feeding this guy?", Shannon complained.

"Well, I insisted that he eats healthy food, but he never listens to me and even manages to sneak eat some fat food when I'm not looking.", Dana said.

"Freaking figures.", said Shannon.

"Just be careful looking after the big guy, Shannon.", Dana said. "It's not as easy as it looks."

"I get that.", Shannon said before talking to herself. "Lord knows this is gonna be a pain."

And with that said, Shannon and Chaz head home. Next, it was Parvana and Lincoln's turn to leave; they said their goodbyes and Parvana promised to keep Lincoln safe. But as they headed out the door, Lincoln got a strange, almost threatening feeling as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Parvana?", asked Lincoln.

"Yes, Lincoln?", she answered.

Lincoln replied."Do you ever have the feeling that you're being watched?"

"...Sometimes.", said Parvana.

As they continued to walk, someone was watching them from behinds the trees at the edge of the woods. Lincoln's hunch was correct, for it was Cherry. She is now stalking her pray, waiting for her chance. As she looks at the two walking away, she breathes heavily and grips her naginata tightly.

"So...that's the one I'm looking for...Not yet. My timing...must be precise."

* * *

To where Fiona, Miguel, and the others are, they were driving in Fiona's car. Fiona and Miguel had gotten a phone call from Carol that they now had to head to the school. But, the others insisted on coming with them, wanting some answers about all this. Apparently, what Fiona told them wasn't enough...

"Where are we even going anyway?", Ronnie Anne asked.

"We're heading to the school.", answered Fiona. Carol and the others are waiting over there for us."

"Others?", Luna said. "How many people are involved in this little club of yours?"

"...Too many to count.", Miguel said.

"Say what?", said Lana.

"Look, we know you want answers.", Fiona said. You'll get them, we promise."

Girl Jordan replied, "I'd hope so "

Like before, Ronnie Anne was quiet, having the others suspect that she knows more than what she's been putting on. It wasn't long before they arrived at the High School, where one of the doors was unlocked, allowing them to head inside. Once they were in, they didn't know where else to go, until they heard someone whispering, calling them over...

"Hey over here!", called out the voice of Whitney, whispering by a door.

"Whitney? Is that you?", Fiona asked.

"Yeah, now come over here...wait, what are they doing with you?", Whitney asked, pointing to the others.

"We want some answers.", Luna demanded. "What the heck is going on?"

"I'm sorry, Whitney.", Fiona said. "They insisted on coming along."

"It's not me you should be sorry to. Come in.", Whitney groans.

Inside the classroom, Carol, Becky, Dana, Mandee and Jackie were waiting inside for Whitney, Fiona and Miguel. But they weren't expecting to see Luna, Lana, Ronnie Anne and Girl Jordan with them.

"Fiona! Miguel! What are they doing here?!", Carol asked.

"Nice to see you too, Carol.", said Luna.

"We're sorry.", Miguel said. "They wanted answers and we can't say no to them."

"Seriously?", Dana asked.

"Seriously.", Fiona answered.

Carol groaned in frustration.

"Now, you answer us right now, Carol.", demanded Luna. "What is going on here? Who is Cherry? And what does she want with Lincoln?"

"I don't see any reason not to tell them anymore.", Becky said.

"Becky-", Dana began to say.

"Forget it, Dana.", Carol said. "We have no choice but to tell them."

"Fine.", accepted Dana.

"Well?", Ronnie Anne said, growing impatient like the rest of her group.

"Cherry Willis...was your average nobody...", Carol began with.

* * *

(flashback)

A year ago, Cherry was an ordinary girl, wearing a grey hoodie, light brown pants, having long black hair in a ponytail and bangs, pale skin and glasses...

"She just...didn't seem to be one who you could talk to easily.", continued on Carol.

"I remembered that she always had trouble talking herself.", Becky always explained. "She was...a social outcast."

"We tried to talking to here before, and it seemed to have been going well for a while..." Dana said.

It was then that Cherry was confronted by Carol, Dana, Becky and Fiona. They all looked different a year ago, with Carol having a tank top and shorts like Lori, but with her shirt in purple instead of blue, Dana having a black tank top and skinny jeans, Becky wearing a brown jacket over her regular attire and having her hair combed back and held by a yellow hairband, and Fiona wearing a pink t-shirt, blue skirt and having her hair down; not only that, but her hips and legs were less plump than how they are a year later.

"Wait, Fiona.", Luna interrupted.

"What?", asked Fiona.

Trying to hold in her laughter, Luna asked, "Were your...legs not as plump as they are now?"

Hearing that question made Fiona glow red, and made everyone else struggle to keep themselves from laughing.

"...Y-Yes?", Fiona said uncomfortably.

"How'd you get your legs to get plump like that in a year?", Carol began to ask.

Fiona awkwardly replied. "...I ate a lot of Salmon and rice, which happened to taste really good."

"Wow.", Dana said.

"C-Can we get back to the subject at hand please?!", Fiona demanded, growing frustrated.

They all saw how lonely Cherry looked and decided to introduce themselves to her.

"Hi there!", Carol said first.

Cherry said nothing.

Fiona continued the conversation by asking, "...Your name's Cherry, right?"

"...Y-Yeah?", Cherry quietly replied.

"Well, it's...kinda cute.", Dana said sympathetically.

"...Really?", said Cherry, sounding surprised.

"Yeah. You're new to the school, right?", asked Becky. "Why don't we show you around?"

"...T-That's okay...I-I can by myself.", Cherry said.

"Come on.", Carol said. "It's no trouble at all."

Cherry replied, "I-I-I'm fine. Please."

"We're just trying to help.", said Dana.

"...I-It's nothing personal.", Cherry told them. "I'm...just not good around people."

"Why is that?", Becky asked.

"There's...something about me...that nobody s-should see.", Cherry barely managed to say.

"Well...we can help you.", Carol suggested. "Only if you trust us..."

"...Okay.", Cherry accepted.

They continued to walk, and Cherry grew to like the girls very quickly. It didn't really seem like anything was wrong with, so they didn't know what she was really worried about. While they were heading down one of the halls, the girls saw a bully, who was 17, being tall and semi-muscular, had dirty blonde hair and wearing a blue t-shirt, black jeans, held a skateboard in his hand and had a smug look in his face. What he was doing was picking on another kid who was half his height, who was light brown haired, freckles around his face, wearing a brown hoodie and green shorts. It was someone who Cherry instantly recognized...

"Greg?"

"You got no one to save you around here.", the bully said. "So why don't we just make this quick?"

"Just leave me alone, man!", Greg cried out. "I didn't do nothing to you!"

"Yeah? You're talking back to me! Ain't that something?", said the bully obnoxiously.

"Leave me alone!", yelled Greg.

"I don't think so!", said the Bully, grabbing on to Greg's hoodie.

Suddenly, the bully was then tackled...by Cherry. It was then that a beat down was occurring, as Cherry was beginning to work the guy over, leaving the others in shock. Was this what she was talking about?

"Hey, hey, hey! Break it up! Right now!", a teacher said.

But Cherry didn't stop, going as far as to shove the teacher to the ground as she then grabbed the bully by his 'stupid' head, and then begins to smash his head against a locker...

Dana cried out "Oh my gosh!"

"Cherry, stop!", Carol yelled out.

It took a big custodian to come and pry Cherry off before she finished turning the bully into a pile of mystery meat. The girls helped up the kid who was being bully, who said he used to be friends with Cherry...Speaking of Cherry, she was already at the Principle's Office and just outside, there was Whitney, wearing a white jacket over a blue tank top and white shorts, and her hair was kept in a bun, Mandee with her hair in a french braid, a white t-shirt and black jeans and Miguel with his hair slicked back and wearing a zipped up red jacket and brown pants. They were trying to listen in on what was happening in the office...

"I can barely hear what's going on.", said Whitney.

Miguel then asked, "That girl's name is Cherry right?"

"Yeah, and she was the only who worked that one guy over.", Mandee answered.

"That was insane.", said Whitney"...I think I can hear the Principle screaming at her."

"That new Principle is kinda rough, don't you think?", asked Mandee.

"Yeah.", answered Miguel.

Inside the office...

"ANDIHAVEHALFAMINDTOHAVEYOUEXPELLEDFROMTHISSCHOOLFORYOURFOWLBEHAVIORANDFORBEINGTHEPERFECTEXAMPLEOFATHEMOSTDISSRESPECTFULOFDEGENERATESANDDIMWITS!"

Cherry was like (-_-).

"Do you have anything to say for yourself, Miss?, the principle said.

"Yeah...but I don't think you'd want to hear it.", Cherry said with such smugness.

"Oh, I very much do.", demanded the principle.

"No, you don't.", Cherry laughed. "You can't take criticism."

"Try me.", said the principle.

"Can't. Take it.", Cherry said, tapping the principle's shirt.

"...WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY?", growled the principle.

"Alright...has anyone ever told you that you speak clearly?", asked Cherry.

"I do not understand you, Carry.", the principle said, getting Cherry's name wrong. "One day, you are the most bashful student to exist in this entire school. The next, you come in acting like an entirely different person, and nearly kill a student by crushing his skull!"

"...It's Cherry.", she corrected. "And I was defending Greg. Plain and simple!"

"There are other ways to deal with such a problem and there are consequences to you what you pulled!", yelled the principle.

"That punk wouldn't leave Greg alone!", Cherry said. "He had no right to tease him!"

Principle replied, "DOES THAT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO START A BRAWL?!"

Cherry said nothing.

"Look, your foster parents told me that you were moved here to keep you out of these types of predicaments.", explained the principle. "But it seems like you're never leaving Square one. You're suspended for this school for 2 weeks."

"...Fine."

"Well...at least you're willing to accept your punishment this time.", said the principle with little sympathy. "Now get out."

Heading out the office door, Cherry took notice that Whitney, Mandee and Miguel were listening in the whole time...

"Heeeeeey...", Miguel said awkwardly.

"We're...we're really sorry, Cherry.", Whitney said, trying to be remorseful.

Mandee added, "I-If you want, we can hang out sometime later."

Cherry said nothing. She just walked past them without a second glance, making her way to the exit of the school. From the look of things, she seems to have returned to her normal self, but the others were still worries about her. It was then that Carol, Dana, Becky and Fiona had shown up to what happened...

"Is Cherry still here?", asked Carol.

"No, she's going home.", Whitney explained. "The principal suspended her.."

"Not so surprising.", Dana remarked.

Becky replied, "Still. It's hard not feel sorry for her."

"No one can rage out like that unless something happened to them before.", Fiona explained.

It was them that they heard what sounded like concrete breaking as they headed over to the front door. Jackie was there, wearing a yellow shirt and blue skirt, looking outside as they the others came and saw Cherry sitting on the floor, crying into her hands...

"Isn't she the girl who almost killed that one guy like an hour ago?", Jackie asked.

Fiona answered, "That's her."

"This is so upsetting.", Carol said. "She's all alone and she needs comfort."

"Well...might as well take one for the team.", Jackie said.

Heading out the front door, Jackie approached Cherry how her Knuckles looked pretty bloody and then saw the cracks on the walls and floors. She could only assume that Cherry may have done a bit of collateral damage.

Jackie awkwardly said, "Um...hi there."

Cherry looks up to show her red eyes and running makeup.

"I'm Jackie, a friend of Carol's.", Jackie introduced herself. "I saw you and... thought you could use some comfort."

Thinking about it for a second, Cherry patted the side next to her and allowed Jackie to sit next to her. Seeing how this was going well, Jackie takes Cherry's hand and gives her a smile. Cherry slowly smiles back as then Carol, Becky and Mandee come out and sit next to Cherry, and it seems as if things are starting to light up for her.

* * *

"We hadn't heard from her in about several days after that.", Carol said. "But since then, it just got worse from that point forward."

Lana wiped from the tears from her eyes, "That's one of the saddest stories I've ever heard."

Girl Jordan replied, "Yeah. I can't believe she had to go through all that."

"No one should.", Luna said. "No wonder she's kinda messed up."

"But...that still doesn't explain why she's after Lincoln.", Ronnie Anne realized.

"Remember that one kid in the story? Greg?", Dana asked them.

"Cherry and Greg used to be friends with each other.", Becky explained. "Apparently, he was one of the only ones who was able to calm her down."

"Oh wow.", Ronnie Anne said.

"Either that, or she's just madly insane enough to kidnap someone.", said Mandee.

"Yeah...remember what she did to the school's courtyard?", asked Jackie.

They all remember the time when Cherry managed to burn the entire school courtyard using molotov cocktails...

"Is that what happened?", Luna asked.

They all replied, "Yep."

"Okay, none of that matters.", Ronnie Anne said. "What we need to do now is find Lincoln and keep him out of harms way until Cherry is taken care of."

"Agreed.", Luna replied. "But that means you guys are gonna have to tell us where he is."

The group of teens huddled and whispered for a second until they came to a conclusion.

"He's with Parvana right now.", sighed Carol. "They headed over to her house."

"...Thank you.", Luna exclaimed "Now, you know that I'm not too thrilled that you kept my brother from for weeks now...but I'm glad you were willing to keep him safe."

"Of course.", Dana said. "He's our friend too."

"Come on, guys!', Lana yelled out. Let's go tell everyone that we'll get to see Lincoln again!"

"Right!", replied Girl Jordan.

"The next time I see that Cherry chick, I'm gonna kick her butt!", Ronnie Anne had said with fury.

Girl Jordan said to her, "Easy, killer."

With that, the young ones headed out first while Luna gave her sign of condolence before heading out. They're this close to seeing Lincoln again...


	14. Chapter 14: The Getaway

"Cherry?...Cherry."

Cherry said nothing.

"Come on. Can't you at least talk to me?"

Cherry looks Greg's way for a slight moment before looking away again...

"You know that I'm always gonna be there for you, Cherry.", Greg said. "I have your back and you have mine. You know that."

"...You could've stopped me. You could've stopped all of it.", Cherry finally said.

"That was just poor timing, I know that.", Greg confessed. "Please understand, it was nothing personal. Cherry, please. Just look st me for a second."

She did just that...then looked away again...

Greg then sighed, saying, "We've been dealing with our own demons for a while now-"

"One year and 182 days, to be exact.", mentioned Cherry.

"Then you know that's how long we've been together.", Greg explained. "I'm not gonna leave you, not after all this."

Hearing all this made Cherry finally decide to look his way without turning back again. She could see Greg holding her hand...

"We're gonna get through this. No matter what we deal with, we having each other.", Greg said. "I'll be there for you."

All that he said had put a smile on her face. It was a good memory...one she was...literally stabbing into. Cherry had impaled a picture of Greg with Naginata before beginning to cry her eyes out. She was torn between anger and sadness..

"Be there for me, huh? I'm all alone now...There's no one who can help me now...Except him."

Looking over at a picture of Lincoln, she wipes her eyes and grabs her Naginata again...

"He...might be my last chance for comfort. My only hope left...I will find him...He'll be mine."

* * *

Turning over to where Parvana and Lincoln are, they were walking down the sidewalk after spending sometime together. Lincoln helped out Parvana with sewing her hijabs, and then they watched a little bit of "Dream Boat", debating on who Karen is gonna go with to be her 'First Mate'...

Lincoln:"My sisters always argue on who Karen is gonna be with."

Parvana:"Well, personally, I think Brock would be a great choice for her."

Lincoln:"Seriously?"

Parvana:"Would you pick any of the other boys?"

Lincoln:"Well, maybe. There's...yeah, I'm going with Brock."

Parvana:"(giggles) I thought so. Also, I'd like to thank you for your help."

Lincoln:"What? You mean your hijabs? It was nothing, really."

Parvana:"You did excellent work on them. I didn't know you can sew so beautifully."

Lincoln:"Hanging around Leni had its benefits."

Parvana:"It sure did."

As they continued to walk, they were heading towards the club, where a few of their friends were waiting. Heading inside, they saw Carol, Sam, Mazzy, Sully and some guy in a brown hoodie standing by the buffet. Carol comes over to come an great them...

"Hey, you two!", Carol said to them. "How was it being with Parvana, Lincoln?"

Lincoln:"It was calming. I helped her out a little with her hijabs and we watched a little of Dream Boat."

"That's nice.", Carol said. "I think Bryant might be the guy for Karen."

"Oh, please.", Parvana said unexpectedly. "Brock is far more considerable."

"To each their own.", Carol replied."

Parvana nodded in agreement as then, Chaz and Shannon began to show up. As before, Chaz got stuck through the door, and Shannon, looking like she's had enough, manages to blast him through with one kick. They were both looking peeved at each other...

"I'm never staying with you again!", yelled out Chaz.

"Promise?!", replied Shannon said in frustration.

Carol asked them, "What's going with you two?"

Shannon replied, "Oh, it's just this giant sack of rancid pudding over here, being the most inconsiderate person I've ever met!"

"Hey, I treated you fairly, didn't I?!", Chaz asked her.

"Fair?!", Shannon asked back. "How is cleaning out my fridge with your bottomless stomach fair, hippo?!"

"Hey, hey, hey!", Parvana interfered. "Calm down for a second, Shannon. Was living with Chaz really that bad?"

Shannon replied, "I envy you, Parvana. You got the easy job looking after Lincoln, while Carol suggested me looking after a 300 pound pushover."

"Hey, don't turn this towards me!", Carol shouted. "How is it even my-? ...Okay, nevermind."

Lincoln then asked, "How'd you guys even start fighting?"

"Well, it started yesterday...", Shannon began to explain.

* * *

Shannon was at her dining room table, on her computer, when Chaz came barging in with a huge load of food, having a mixture of meat, sugars and fats in it, enough to fill a fridge, some cooked, some not. He lays all the food done on the table, making it a giant, sloppy, mess which he licked his lips at...

"Chaz, what the heck?!", yelled Shannon."

Chaz replied, "What? I was hungry!"

"Uh-huh, sure you were!", Shannon said sarcastically. "Wait...is all this from my fridge?!"

"Yep.", Chaz said as began to dig in. "You said it needed to be cleaned out."

Shannon told him, "That's because some of the food may have been spoiled by now!"

Chaz shrugged as he continued to eat semi-frozen food.

"All of this is what my fridge mostly has!", Shannon cried out. "What the heck am I gonna eat?!"

Chaz replied, "I left you the fruits and vegetables in there."

"Of course you did. That would've been the only two things you left out.", remarked Shannon.

"What's that supposed to mean?", asked Chaz."

"You know exactly what that's supposed to mean, Chaz!", yelled Shannon. "When I allowed you to stay here, I was kinda hoping for a little more respe-"

Before she could finish, Chaz shoved his fat finger in her face, waving it "no" as he continued to stuff his face. But Shannon didn't like that, pushing Chaz's finger away, letting her face turn bright red until she tackles Chaz, and begins to beat him off-screen. After five minutes, everything calmed down and the two of them were sitting on the floor, covered in what's left of the food. Taking some heavy breathes, Shannon felt like her old self again and saw Chaz on the ground with her, looking pretty beaten...

"Ouch.", said Shannon, sheepishly. "Sorry about that, Chaz."

"It's okay.", Chaz replied, painfully. "If I had known taking all the food would make you do that, I would've waited a little longer and respected your boundaries."

"Yeah, well...you should've thought about that earlier.", Shannon remarked, as she helped Chaz up.

As she lifted a beaten Chaz to his feet, he then noticed something outside in Shannon's back yard...

Her asked her, "Hey, what's that?"

Heading outside, they see that it's a tree house that looks like it's seen better days. But, other than that, it seemed to be in a functional condition.

"Oh, that's just my brother's old tree house.", Shannon answered. "He kept his collection of action figures in there."

"You never told me you had a brother.", said Chaz.

"I don't talk about him too much.", replied Shannon. "We used to play in there all the time and he always liked how curly and long usually my hair is."

Chaz then asked, "Where is he now?"

"Boarding school.", Shannon replied.

"Oh. Well, it's nice of you to talk about your brother like that. ", said Chaz. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna have a look inside."

Shannon soon told him, "Chaz, no. I don't think that's a good id-"

But, before she could finish, Chaz was already trying to force his way inside through the door and, by no surprise at all, he gets himself stuck...

"Uh...Shannon?", he calls out.

Facepalming at this, Shannon groaned as she was already ahead of him, beginning to push him through with her arm and shoulder...

"This is what happens when you eat way too much, Chaz!". Shannon yelled out!

"I can't help it!", replied Chaz. "I got cravings!"

Shannon then said, "That's no excuse to at least try and stop gaining weight!"

"It's just who I am!", yelled Chaz.

"Well, maybe it's time for that change!", scream Shannon.

Chaz asked her, "How?!"

Beginning to use her back, Shannon roared, "START. WORKING. OUT!"

* * *

"And after I de-wedged him from the door, I told him about personal space and that how he shouldn't be doing stupid stuff like that."

"Wow. That must've been a pretty small door.", Parvana said.

Shannon replied, "Oh, it was. like just only over 2 feet tall."

"Then how is it that you two are angry at each other now?", asked Lincoln.

"Because, before we got here, he tried going back inside the tree house and he ended BREAKING DOWN THE DOOR!", answered Shannon furiously.

Overhearing that, Chaz walks away from the buffet table with a handful of food and a grumpy look on his face...

"So, do you really have a brother?", asked Carlota.

"I do.", replied Shannon, bringing out her phone and showing a picture of herself, hugging and kissing her little brother on the cheek, who wore an orange sweater, glasses, had light brown hair and grey cargo shorts, and he looked to have been 6 years old in the picture. He also seemed to be a little on the pudgy side himself...

"He also liked to have eaten a little.", explained Shannon. "But definitely not as much as Chaz, and we still loved him no matter what."

Everyone felt touched after hearing that...

Lincoln then asked, "What's his name anyway?"

"Trevor.", answered Shannon. "And as I said, he always liked my hair for how long and curly it is. Like one time..."

* * *

One time, Shannon was sitting on the floor, reading on of her favorite plays when she felt a little bit of force right behind her. Turning around, she found her brother sleeping on her hair. She was so overjoyed that she began to cuddle her little brother as he slept...

* * *

"Awww!", everybody went.

Shannon replied, "Yeah, and like another time."

* * *

Another time, Shannon's brother was making a sandwich. And when she showed up and leaned on the table, right in front of the sandwich. The moment she felt the bun get put down, her brother had already taken a bite...

* * *

"Eewww.", everybody said, feeling disgusted.

Shannon laughed a little a their reaction.

"So, anyway, we need to start moving quickly. Lincoln's sisters now know where to find him.", said Carol.

"They do?", asked Lincoln, sounding surprised."

"Yeah, Carol told them.", Mazzy said. "She said they forced the truth out of her."

"Well, way to throw me under that bus, Mazzy.", Carol remarked. "But, believe me, Lincoln. We couldn't keep it a secret anymore. Not with they danger you are in."

Lincoln then asked. "What do you mean 'danger'?"

"You still haven't told him?", asked Sam.

"Better now than never.", Carlota said.

"Fine.", said Carol. "But this is gonna be a lot to comprehend."

As they told Lincoln everything, the guy in the grey hoodie couldn't help but turn his head over to him whenever he heard something that caught his attention. When it was all said and done, Lincoln was left speechless...

"Lincoln?", said Parvana.

Carol said to her, "Give him a minute. It's a lot to take in, knowing that you're being hunted down.

"I...I just can't believe this.", Lincoln finally said. "All this is so that you guys can protect me from some crazy Cherry girl?"

"Yep.", said Carol.

"Pretty much.", said Mazzy.

"We're not proud of it.", said Carlota.

"All we must do now is make sure that Lincoln is kept safe until Cherry has been apprehended.", said Shannon.

"Cherry? As in Cherry Willis?"

Everyone turned to the guy in the brown, who looked like he hasn't slept too good in a while...

"Yeah.", said Carol. "Why? Do you know about her too?"

"Oh, I very much do.", said the guy, almost creepily.

Carol then asked, "Where have I heard that voice before?"

"Cherry used to be an old friend of mine.", the guy said. "But I failed her. And now she's lost herself."

"What's you name?", asked Lincoln.

"Greg?", said Carol, having everyone turn their heads towards her. "Greg Jones?"

"...Hello, Carol.", said Greg. "I guess I got some explaining to do, don't I?"

Carlota replied, "Yeah, you kinda do. What exactly is going on here?"

"Very well.", said Greg. "I'll explain everything..."

* * *

"Me and Cherry were two of the kinds of people who were on the brink of losing their sanity. I felt like I was gonna burst into a spiraling depression, but Cherry...she was different. There was a rage building up inside her. She had a very violent nature..."

Memories of Cherry's streak of violence and anger started entering Greg's mind. Everything he saw seemed to be worse than the last. Even the girls began to remember how Cherry took a snake by the neck and ripped off it's head with her bare hands, then stomped on its head to it looked like an empty green sausage. Then there was the time she almost pushed another kid, someone she really hated for picking on her friends, off the roof of a school...then there was the time she set the school courtyard on fired. Back then, they excepted that she really was a psychopath and there was no point in them helping her...Greg didn't think the same though...

"I was the only one who was there for her. 'The only one who was nice to me.', she said while she beat a guy half to death in front of me. I never left her side...I lover her too much, as family, to ever leave her...But then I failed. I did everything, everything I could in my power to keep her safe, to her demons locked up, to make sure she wasn't lost...she snapped at me."

The last memory of Cherry that Greg was her picking her by the collar, let her anger out on him until they heard what sounded like a knife being drawn...

"Give me all your money.", said a crook, who wasn't prepared for what he got himself into. Cherry was killed a man right there, taking his knife and leaving her friend scarred for life...

"At that moment...I realized that everything that Cherry was before...had now faded...into a memory."

* * *

Everyone was just about speechless after hearing that. They were beginning to shed tears, now knowing the truth about Cherry and Greg's past; a truly sad story indeed...

"That's such a sad story.", said Carol, wiping tears from her eyes.

Lincoln grabbed a tissue, saying, "I was not expecting that. So sad."

"I can't believe you had to go through all that.", Shannon said, feeling bad for Greg.

"Me neither.", Carol said, fighting back the tears in her eyes...

Greg, looking at Carlota, had then replied, "...I see Carlota has put on a little weight since I last saw her."

And at that moment, the empathy she felt for Greg was gone, as everyone then turned their attention over to her, now beginning to hold in some laughter. As she turned red, she looked over to Greg, who was looking like he was smirking...

"Don't change the subject.", she said while grinding her teeth.

"Just saying.", Greg remarked.

Meanwhile, Chaz was next to the door, eating a piece of vanilla cake with strawberry frosting, when he turned his attention towards the door and his eyes went wide as he saw Vanzilla right outside the club...

"Hey! The Louds are here! They're right outside!", Chaz said with cake in his mouth.

"What?!", yelled Lincoln and Carol.

But then, Carol then asked him, "Wait, where did you get that cake?"

"Um...", said Chaz, feeling sheepish.

She then yelled out, "We were saving that for later!"

"Forget about the cake!", Shannon interrupted. "We need to get Lincoln out of here before the Louds see him!"

"Right.", agreed Carol. "There's another exit we can use. Shannon, Carlota, Sully, I leave it up to you three to get Lincoln out of here!"

With that said, the four of them head upstairs to use the emergency exit Carol was talking about. The only way upstairs was up a latter, which the teen allowed Lincoln to go first, then Sully, then Carlota, who was a little slower than the others, and Shannon complained about it...

"Can you be any slower, Carlota?", Shannon asked her.

Carlota replied, "Would you relax? We still have some time."

"Actually, no we don't!", Shannon yelled out. "Now move it!"

Then, out of some leftover anger, Shannon begins to shove Carlota up the latter with some force. By the time they were on the second floor, the two glared at each other as Carlota rubbed at her backside, while Lincoln and Sully watch awkwardly...

"You know, I'd kinda pat to watch this.", said Sully.

"Oh, shut up!", yelled Carlota.

Meanwhile, Ronnie Anne, Lori, Luna, Leni and Lana have already barged in, looking not at all happy as everyone now had a nervous smile on their face...

Carol started of by going, "Heeeeeyy..."

"Where's Lincoln?", Lori soon demanded.

"Lincoln?", said Parvana. "We haven't seen him around here."

"Don't play dumb with us!", said Ronnie Anne.

"We've been searching for Lincoln all-around Royal Woods.", Leni said. "And then we find out that you guys have been hiding him from us! Why?"

"We were trying to protect him!", Carol tried to explain.

Back to where Lincoln's group was at, they were busy trying to find the way out of here. But then Shannon noticed the windows at the end of the room...

"Hey, what about through the window?", she asked.

"That...could work.", Sully replied.

Lincoln then asked, "Is it safe?"

"I'm sure it is.", said Carlota. "It would lead outside. Plus, we're running low on options."

"I'll go first to see if it's safe.", said Sully, heading for the window. The opening was now higher than Lincoln's chin, providing only a bit of room to climb through. As Sully made it through, he now found himself on a platform on the other side...

"Okay, guys. It's safe out here.", he told them.

"I'll go next.", Shannon said.

After Shannon goes through the window, next was Carlota, but there was bit of a problem. She got stuck through the window, due to her waist. Lincoln didn't realize she was stuck as he run towards the window and accidentally bumped into her butt.

"Ow!", Carlota said.

Lincoln replied, "Sorry about that."

Everyone just couldn't believe

"Unbelievable.", said Lincoln.

"Are you kidding me right now?, Shannon said angrily. "Even you, Carlota?"

"I'm sorry!", Carlota said. "I swear, this has never happened to me before."

Sighing at the predicament, Lincoln looks out the window, and could see what was happening back downstairs as his sisters were already inside the club, questioning the others. Growing to be in a state of panic, Lincoln saw no other option but push Carlota through the window...even if that meant touching her butt with his hands...

"Eep!", Carlota went.

"Try to pull her through.", Sully said, as the two grab her arms and begin to try to pull her out of the window.

"The size of my hips always cause problems for me, but nothing ever like this!", Carlota explained to them.

"Is that why you never wear pants?", Shannon asked her.

"Sort of.", Carlota answered.

Back downstairs, the Louds could swear they were hearing some strange noise coming from somewhere above them. Thinking fast so that they wouldn't get on their trail, Carol soon changed the subject...

"You know, it doesn't even matter if you're looking for Lincoln here. 'Cause he's already gone."

"Really?", asked Leni

"Yeah. He left...about an hour ago.", Parvana said.

"Then what's that sound we keep hearing?", Lori asked them.

Carol answered, "It's just the windows. The can be a little squeaky sometimes."

"Right.", Lana said specifically.

"Our point is that you're not gonna find Lincoln anywhere here right now.", said Carol.

Lori replied, "You got some nerve keeping my own brother from me."

"Trust me, Lori. You will see him again soon, I swear.", Carol explained. "For now, it's best if he stays away for now. You'll appreciate this someday."

With that said, Lori glares at Carol, who stands her ground as the whole club grows silent...

"...We'll be back.", Lori said, almost growling.

And so, the Louds and Ronnie Anne leave the club, giving the group a chance to feel relieved after having to deal with that...

Carol had said, "That was a close one."

"Indeed.", Parvana agreed. "You think Lincoln's group may have left by now?"

"I'll go check right now.", Carol said.

Back to Lincoln's group, they still couldn't get Carlota free from the window, now catching their breath from all that pushing...

"This isn't going well.", Sully exhaustively said.

"Really?!", Carlota yelled out.

"Lincoln? How are you doing back there?", Shannon asked the boy on the other side.

"I'm good. Just hold on, I got an idea."

From what they saw, Lincoln was starting to back up a few feet. Carlota was left confused but the other two had a pretty good idea what he was gonna do...

Carlota asked, "Um, what is he planning?"

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea what he's gonna do.", said Sully.

"You might want to brace yourself.", said Shannon.

"For what?", Carlota asked.

Without warning, Lincoln began to charge at Carlota's behind, then leap with both hands straight ahead. Soon enough, Carlota felt some pressure beginning to blast her through, popping her through the window and making her fall to the surface of the platform.

"Ow."

"You okay, Carlota?", asked Sully.

"Yeah, I just had the time of my life!", Carlota yelled sarcastically.

"Maybe, we should find another escape route next time.", Shannon suggested.

"Or maybe, let there not be a next time.", Carlota said angrily.

"Sorry about that.", Lincoln said as he crawled to the other side.

Soon enough, Carol showed up and checked up on the three, who were already on the other side.

"You guys okay?", she asked them.

"Yeah, we're all good now.", Sully answered. "We'll be heading down now."

"Okay, but be careful.", Carol explained. "Lincoln's sisters may have left already, but keep a look out in case you-know-who's around."

"I think it'd be best if someone watches over Lincoln again.", Shannon said. "I'd be willing to do it. Hopefully, it'll be easier than taking care of Chaz."

"Heh. Don't worry, it probably will be.", said Lincoln, feeling touched as he surprises Shannon with a hug.

"Alright. Good luck, you guys.", Carol said as she heads back down.

And so, the team heads down a flight of stairs and heads towards the woods. As they move on, something else is on Shannon's mind...

"Um, Carlota? Does your waist really get in the way so much?"

"...I'm not even gonna answer that.", Carlota said, sounding almost annoyed.

Lincoln then said to Shannon, "I hope to have a good time with Shannon."

"And with you as well.", Shannon replied. "With any luck, my brother might come back from boarding school this weekend."

And with that, they all head into the woods. But they were not alone, as not far from where they were, someone was stalking, breathing heavily and gripping a weapon tightly in their hands...


	15. Chapter 15: Things get more Intense

Back at the Loud House, some of the family was chilling, others were just get some news back from Lori and the others, Luan was reading a book about jokes, Lynn was throwing a ball in the air and catching it, Lucy was trying to write new poems in her book, Lisa was trying to take her mind off all this with some studying and Lily was just catching some Z's. The girls, Girl Jordan, Kat, Mollie and Renee were on the couch, talking amongst themselves, having their own worries about this whole thing. Such as Lola, Rita and Lynn Sr., who were busy pacing the floor.

Everyone was worried, but Lynn and Lucy were doing their best not to show it...

"What's taking them so long?", Lynn asked out loud.

"It takes some time to get to here from the edge of the woods.", Lucy answered her. "I'm just hoping they have Lincoln with them when they show up."

"...Don't think I'm sounding hopeless, but I kinda doubt it at this point.", Lynn said. "Knowing Lincoln, at this point, he would've given them the slip again."

"Still...", Lucy began. "That's not to say they wouldn't have gotten close to this point."

"I guess it could be worse.", said Lynn, throwing the ball in the air once more and catching it before it hit her face. And it was then they began to hear Lola in the hallway, who was looking the ground, looking upset.

"It's just like Lincoln to continue running away from us.", she said angrily. "Always so selfish."

"No, Lola. He's not selfish...much.", Lucy replied to her. "Haven't you ever wanted some time away from all of us as well?"

Lola replied, "Even so, that doesn't make up for leaving us."

"We had it coming.", Lynn stated.

"YOU had it coming!", Lola shouted.

And it was then that Lola was knocked to the floor by a baseball slamming into her face. Left with a black eye, Lola saw that it was Lynn who threw the baseball.

"Whoops.", said Lynn.

"What the heck was that for?!", Lola yelled.

"I guess you can say that you had it coming.", remarked Lynn. "And you're lucky it was only a baseball."

"Not even close to what you deserve.", Lucy remarked.

Lola growled at them both. Just then, Lori and the others came in through the door, looking down. Everyone soon came over to them and started to ask a whole bunch of questions, none of which they were all able to answer at the same time...

"Alright, everybody, calm down!", yelled out Lori. "Literally give us a chance to breathe before you start with the questions."

"Sorry, Lori.", Rita exclaimed. "We just need some answers! Please tell if you have found Lincoln!"

"...No. We didn't.", Lori sadly said.

Mollie then shouted, "Seriously?! Nothing?!"

"We got close.", explained Luna. "We headed to the place Carol talked about, but Lincoln was nowhere."

"And I like to believe that Carol and the others helped Lincoln give us the slip.", Lori groaned. "We're gonna be heading back over there again. But this time, everyone's coming with."

"Why all of us?", asked Lynn Sr.

"Because they can't take on all us.", Luna answered. "We'll be getting answers out of them one way or another."

"Cool. Nothing like another fun family road trip to help brighten the day.", Lynn remarked, coming down with Lucy, Luan and Lola. Everyone was shocked to see that Lola now had a black eye and was looking pretty pissed...

"Dear gosh. What happened?!", Rita asked.

Lynn replied, "She fell...on her face...hard."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!", yelled Lola. "LYNN HIT ME IN THE FACE WITH A BASEBALL!"

"Lynn...is that true?", asked Rita, sounding a little upset.

"...My hand slipped.", answered Lynn.

Looking over at her twin, Lana couldn't help but find it a bit funny that she was giving the same treatment Lincoln gave to Lynn. It made her feel satisfied...

"I suppose we'll have to worry about that later.", Rita said. "Let's just go to that place and see what we can find."

And with that, they all decide to head over to the club, leaving the house and heading towards the van.

"There's no way we can all fit in there.", Ronnie Anne explained.

"Would you rather go on foot?", questioned Kat.

Ronnie Anne answered, "Kind of."

"Me too.", added Lynn. "It would make great exercise."

"We'll all be able to move faster with the van!", Lori told them. "Now everyone, get ready to squeeze in!"

It really was a tight squeeze. Fitting seventeen people into a van built for thirteen. The only ones not being squeezed as much was Rita and Lynn Sr. But that doesn't mean they weren't suffering from hearing the kids complain along the way...

"Move over, Luna!", yelled Luan.

"I would if I could!", Luna yelled back. "Get your foot off mine!"

"Lola, get your hair out of my face!", Lana told her twin.

"Deal with it! I can barely move!", Lola replied.

Then Mollie asks Kat, "Can you please scoot over?"

"Scoot over where?!", Kat replied. " I can barely move! And watch the hair!"

"This was a dumb idea.", Lisa complained.

"I knew it!", Ronnie Anne added.

"Should've just walked over there.", continued Girl Jordan.

"And who's fault was that?", asked Lori.

"YOURS!", yelled out all the kids.

"They better spill out where they're hiding Lincoln!", exclaimed Lana.

"If they don't, I'll make them talk.", said Lynn, cracking her fingers.

Lori said to them, "Save it for later, you two.

"Lori's right, let's all try to remain calm and work this out normally.", added Rita.

But as they headed over to the club, they saw that it was already closed.

"Oh, come on!", Lori exclaimed.

"Are you kidding me?!", went Lola.

It was then that Lisa noticed something on the ground not far from the entrance...

"Over here! Footprints!", she said, calling out to her family.

"They lead into the woods.", Rita said. "I guess there's only one place to go."

* * *

Meanwhile, Cherry was heading home for the night, stomping angrily as she opens the door to her warehouse and the slams it shut behind her. From the looks of things, she had it rough, looking beat up and dirty as she angrily paces around the floor, her stomps echoing across the floor...

"This is RIDICULOUS!", she yelled out. "I had them right where I wanted them, I had my chance to find out where he is! But, no! Fate just had to play it's cruel hand and make me look like a fool!

What she was talking about was when she was trying to get information out of Ronnie Anne's group she she first when she first encountered them. But that didn't end smoothly, getting decked on by an 11 year old girl.

"Out of all the things I've had to gone through, this is definitely the worse! I just wanna-", and then she lets her anger out by stabbing a punching bag repeatedly with her naginata. Taking a breather after ripping her pinching bag to shreds, she begins to calm down. "No matter, no matter. Minor setback. They won't keep me from that boy forever. He's only safe because he's always around his big friends. But, they can't always be around him. I know that for certain! I due time, I will have that boy...in my grasp."

As she continued to complain, three people, two guys and one girl, all dressed in black, came in to see her. There was Margaret, who had a bob cut, wore a black jacket, light brown shorts, dark brown combat boots, black fingerless gloves and a white shirt with a Rorschach symbol on it. Joshua, who had a buzz cut, dark skin, black bomber jacket, dark red tight pants, black shoes and a dark purple "J" tattoo on his right cheek. And then, there was Frank, who had a dirty blond mullet, a grey windbreaker, blue worn out jeans, biker boots and his hand wrapped in bandages. They were henchmen hired by Cherry if she ever needed the extra help, and frankly, they were a bit afraid of her, having to deal with her craziness most of the time. They entered in the room, each of them nervous as Cherry faces the three of them...

"What is it? I'm in the middle of something here!", Cherry yells out to them.

"Uh, she just came by to how you were doing, boss.", Frank said shakingly.

"I'm fine, thank you!", Cherry said angrily. "You don't need...to worry about me."

"But, you've been without sleep for days, ma'am.", spoke out Margaret. "This could be very bad for you!"

"I said I'm fine!", Cherry screamed. "Ugh, why did I have to hire such knuckleheads to be my henchmen?"

"Well, it's not like we ever do anything.", stated Joshua. "You just keep us here with little to do."

"...Alright then.", Cherry said calmly. "You all want something to do?! Bring me the boy I've been searching! Make sure he's in one piece!"

Frank replied, "Okay. But, uh, I wouldn't want to bring this up right now, but, when do we get paid?"

"When. I. SAY SO!", Cherry yells out. "Now go already! And that boy better be alive!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at Shannon's House, Lincoln was sitting at the dining table, lost in his train of thought about the whole situation, while Shannon prepared dinner, taking out some meat and vegetables, planning to make some kind of skillet...

"Shannon?", Lincoln speaks up.

"Yes, Lincoln?", Shannon replied.

"I'm just feeling kind of worried right now.", Lincoln says. "Do you think this Cherry girl will ever find me?"

"We're not gonna let that happen, Lincoln.", said Shannon with a firm tone.

"But what if it does?", Lincoln questioned. "What would happen if she ever found me? What would she do to me?!"

Shannon replied, "Lincoln, listen to me. We wouldn't be doing this if we weren't making sure that she would never find you. We are NOT gonna let that happen. We'll keep you safe for as long as we need to."

Lincoln said nothing, and Shannon could tell he still wasn't feeling to well about the whole thing. She decides to change the subject of the conversation.

"You know, my brother might be coming back soon."

"Your brother? Trevor?", Lincoln asks.

"Yeah. That one.", Shannon answers. "He's still a little on the pudgy side, and it's gotten me a little worried."

"Oh, come on.", said Lincoln. "It can't be any worse than Chaz."

"It isn't. But still."

Then, some knocking was heard at the door.

"Oh. That must be him."

Heading for the front door, her little brother ends up opening it himself and looks at Shannon with a big smile.

"Hey, big sis!", said Trevor as he comes in for a hug.

With the siblings coming at each other, Shannon felt a bit of an impact when Trevor hugs, making her believe that he might've gotten a little more weight...

"My, Trevor! It's great seeing you!", Shannon said to her little brother, while her eyes keep moving over to his belly. "So, uh, how's school been going for you?"

"To be honest, it's been pretty boring.", Trevor answered. "In just about everyone of my classes, most of the kids have been falling asleep, me included."

Shannon replied, "That bad, huh?"

"Yep.", said Trevor.

Trevor takes notice of Shannon's eyes narrowing down to his gut and starts to get a little annoyed. He knows how much his pudginess bothers his sister.

"Shannon, it's fine! I just had a big lunch.", he says to his sister.

She then asks him, "What did you have?"

"Some coconut cream pie, a cinnamon roll and apple juice, that's all.", He explained. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Sound like it wouldn't sit well, though.", Lincoln said to himself, listening in on the conversation.

"Well, have you been doing what I asked of you?", Shannon asks.

Trevor replied, "Yeah, I've been cutting back on everything. Watching what I eat. It's just a little extra weight. It'll disappear in days."

"Alright.", Shannon accepted. "Head upstairs. We'll talk later, okay?"

"Okay.", Trevor said, as he hugged his sister again and she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

As Trevor heads upstairs, Shannon heads back into the kitchen and continues to prepare dinner...

Lincoln asks her, "What was it that you were gonna say to him?"

"Hmm?", she sounded, confused.

"Just then, before he interrupted you.", Lincoln explained.

"Oh, I just noticed how he had gained a little weight since last time.", Shannon answered.

"Does you have problems with his weight as well?", asked Lincoln.

"No. I don't, at least.", explained Shannon. "It's just that, from time to time, his clothes don't fit, he gets tired easily, he started getting breathing problem, so we had to get an inhaler...then there was the...indigestion."

"I do not need to know about THAT.", Lincoln interrupted.

"My point is that it sometimes gets in the way, but we work it through. Together.", finished Shannon.

"That's very nice of you, Shannon.", complimented Lincoln.

"Thanks.", she said as she served him a plate of food.

After a little bit of eating, the real subject at hand went in Lincoln's head, giving him a question.

"So, how do we keep the Cherry girl from finding me?"

Taking a bit out of her own food, Shannon answered, "I think I have a few ideas in mind..."


	16. Chapter 16: Captured

The Louds and the other girls continued to follow the footprints across the forest until they reach the end, the dead end, that is. The footprints ended, upon reaching a sidewalk, heading back into town and leading the group in circles.

"You have got to be kidding me.", said Lori.

"After all that walking, getting sore feet, we end up on nothing but a wild goose chase?!", yelled Lola, heading over to a tree and punching it. "This. is. RIDICULOUS! I've walked all night! And for what?! To be. Lead Around. In Circles. Having my feet start to bleed. And I. CAN'T. TAKE IT!"

As she repeatedly punched the tree with surprisingly extreme force, nuts began to fall on her head, and then she looked up to see a pile of nuts come crashing down on her. Getting out of the pile, Lola was looking unamused as some of her siblings, and Ronnie Anne tried to hold in their laughter.

"Not. A. Word."

"Okay, no words.", said Lana. "...Just laughter."

And with that, Lana, Luna, Luan and Ronnie Anne begin to laugh at Lola, who's blood began to boil at the humiliation she's enduring.

Rita then interrupted saying, "Alright, that's enough! Maybe it's time we should head home and gets some rest."

"Does this mean we'll continue searching tomorrow?", asked Ronnie Anne.

"I don't know if we should.", said Renee. "What if Lincoln's long gone by now?"

"Come on, Renee. Don't think like that.", said Girl Jordan. "He couldn't have gotten too far."

"I mean...what if he's dead?", Renee asked, right before Lori, Leni, Luna, Ronnie Anne, Lynn and Lana got in her face, looking angry at her for joking like that. "I'm just saying. It could happen."

"Well, let's not jump to conclusions.", said Rita. "Let's go."

* * *

Meanwhile, walking down the street were Cherry's goons, Margaret, Joshua and Frank, who were now in search of Lincoln...

"So, uh, how are we gonna find this kid?", asked Frank.

"Cherry said he was with a girl named Shannon, and that she lives somewhere down this street.", Joshua answered to him. "Now keep going."

Frank replied, "Alright, jeeze."

"Why are we even doing this for some psycho chick?", Margaret then asked.

"Well, we kinda do need the money.", Joshua began to state.

"Yeah, and what if she doesn't pay us?", Margaret questioned. "What if she kills us off that bat?"

"She just wants us to find a little white-haired kid.", Joshua told her. "How hard can that be?"

* * *

But as they continued down the sidewalk, they three of them accidentally bumped a rather huge group. The Louds to be exact, as they gave some short glaces and kept on moving...

"Those guys need to watch where they're going.", remarked Lynn."

"Yeah.", agreed Ronnie Anne. "They even looked pretty shady."

Lily saw Margaret glancing over to her and blew a raspberry at her. But then, Margaret hissed at her, like a snake, frightening the baby girl and making her hold tightly onto her mother. Rita saw how something startled her little girl and glared over to Margaret, who already had back turned towards the family...

Lynn Sr. asked his wife, "Is something wrong, honey?"

"N-No.", lied Rita. "Nothing at all. Something (or someone) just spooked Lily. That's all."

"Would it be those three weirdos we just passed?", asked Lori.

"They did look pretty scary.", commented Lola.

"The nerve of some people.", Luna remarked.

"I hate it when people mess with us.", Lynn said.

"Agreed.", added Lucy, as well as Ronnie Anne, saying, "They were lucky that we're in a hurry."

* * *

Back to the three knuckleheads, Margaret kept a smirk on her face, which Joshua recognized as her proud look.

"Proud of yourself?", he asks her.

"Very.", she answers, looking so smug. "The little runt had it coming."

"So...", started Frank. "Why do you think Little Miss Crazypants wants the kid anyway?"

"I don't know, as long as we get payed.", remarked Joshua.

"Well, what if Margaret's right? What if we don't get paid and Cherry ends up trying to kill us?", Frank said back.

"Then we'll kill her first.", answered Joshua.

"You make that sound so easy.", said Margaret.

"Whatever. We're almost there. Let's just finish the job. Come on.", commanded Joshua, growing impatient with the rest of them.

"How are we even gonna get the kid?", questioned Frank.

"Very carefully.", stated Joshua. "Remember that she said she wanted to kid brought back to her in one piece."

"You know, you kinda make it sound like you're afraid of her.", joked Margaret.

"N-No, I'm not.", Joshua said firmly. "I can easily take her."

"I'm sure you would.", said Margaret.

"Okay, look. C-Can we just- Can we just go?!", yelled Joshua, not wanting to take it anymore.

"Alright, hothead.", said Frank as they all continued.

It wasn't long before they arrived at Shannon's house. Now they just had to figure out how they were gonna get Lincoln.

Frank:"I could get a box and say it's a free pizza delivery.", suggested Frank.

"Oh, please. When has that ever worked?", asked Joshua, annoyed with Frank's stupidity.

"How about we head to the backyard and see if there's anything we can do from there?", asked Margaret.

Joshua replied, "...Yeah, sounds good to me."

"Whatever.", said Frank.

They head to the back of the house, jumping over the fence that guarded it and hiding in the shrubbery. Joshua then pulled out a telescope in order to see through the windows, something which Margaret thought was pointless...

She asked him, "Do you ever really need those?"

"Hey, they were on sale at Explorers-R-Us.", he told her.

"You're a child.", Margaret said. "...Hey, where's Frank?"

"I thought he was right next to us.", Joshua said.

They then saw that Frank had tiptoed his way towards the house and was now beginning to climb up to the roof. Margaret and Joshua were shocked by this, not thinking that he could get anymore stupider...

"Frank, what the heck are you doing?!", Joshua quietly shouted at her.

"Relax! I got this!", he said confidently. "I'm just gonna get in, Santa Claus style, then I'll grab the kid and head out the same way."

"You need to get your brain checked man!", Margaret yelled at him. "Get down from there!"

"Oh, come on!", he said. "What's the worse that can h-aAAAAAHHHHH-"

And then he fell. Margaret and Joshua almost freaked out as Frank ended up crashing down from the roof, onto the trash and recycling bin at the side of the house. Coincidentally enough, this was enough to make Lincoln, who was sleeping on the couch, wake up to hear what was going on.

"What the-?", he said, looking out the window. Soon after, Shannon came downstairs, startled awake by the sound as well.

"Did you hear that, Lincoln?", she asked the boy.

"Yeah, I did.", he answered. "Sounded like it came from outside."

"I'll go check it out.", said Shannon, but was then stopped by Lincoln.

"I'm sure it's nothing.", said Lincoln. "Let me go check it out."

Shannon began to say, "Lincoln, you don't have to-"

But Lincoln had cut her off, saying "It's no trouble at all. Don't worry."

"...Okay.", caved Shannon. "Just be careful out there."

"I will.", stated Lincoln as he heads outside.

Outside, he looks around to see nothing out of the ordinary. All except for what happened to be crushed trash bin and some messy footprints. Lincoln was too distracted by his growing concerns, that he failed to notice the giant shadow looming behind him.

* * *

"Hey, Shannon!", Trevor called out to his sister.

"What is it, Trevor?", Shannon asked.

Trevor replied, "Do you think my weight is getting a little severe?"

"Kind of.", answered Shannon. "Like, remember the time you got stuck in the bathroom window?"

"That was not my fault.", said Trevor, trying to defend himself. "I don't even know how that happened!"

"Trevor, you threw out your toothbrush, then decided to go after it.", Shannon stated.

"Well, it's not my fault the window closed on me.", Trevor said. "I was barely able to breathe that time."

"Still. That was kind of your fault.", Shannon said, sipping some coffee. "And it was no fun trying to pull you out either. I was this close to pushing you out, if you didn't start help."

"Well there's not many ways I can really help when I'm stuck in a window that refuses to reopen.", Trevor said, "At least my clothes still fit me just fine."

"Barely.", remarked Shannon.

It was then that both of them were startled by the sound of something metal hitting something...or someone.

"Oh, no. Lincoln!", Shannon yelled out, racing for the door.

Heading outside, she finds a her trash can destroyed and some blood that stained the ground. Looking from here to there, she saw the three goons carrying an unconscious Lincoln away from her house. The sigh of Lincoln's hair running red almost made Shannon gag as she ran towards them...

"No, wait!"

Her brother followed her outside to see what was going on, getting scared almost instantly...

"Shannon, what's going on?", he asked. "Who are those people?"

"Trevor, get back inside right now!", Shannon yelled, before getting hit with something hard and fast that her back ache. Frank threw a rock at her...

"Heh. Night-night.", the goon said, before leaving."

"No...no.", Shannon cried, beginning to break down, failing in the one thing she was supposed to do.

"Shannon!", yelled out Trevor, running towards his sister. "Are you okay?"

"Ugh! Forget about me.", growled Shannon, straining to get up. "I gotta call my friends, the police, somebody! I need to get Lincoln back!"

Things seem to have taken a turn for the worse...


	17. Chapter 17: The Escape

Lincoln had begun to regain consciousness, being out cold for what seemed like hours. He felt like he was laying on a cold hard floor, and that he left arm was locked onto something. As he begin to open his eyes, he heard some voices nearby, one of them was a female, and sounded really angry...

"One thing! You couldn't have done one thing!"

"Look, boss, it ain't that big a deal. You wanted us to get the kid, and we got him!"

"What part of "in one piece" do you know not freaking understand?! I didn't ask you to put a freaking crack in his skull!"

"I didn't even hit him that hard!"

"Yeah, and look! We patched him up nicely!"

"That doesn't make up for it!"

"Look, lady! You got the dang kid, so you better pay up!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, here's your dang payment right here!"

Lincoln could then hear some commotion happening. Things breaking, cracking, two guys screaming in pain, and a little bit of crazed laughter. He could only assume that it finally happened. He's been kidnapped and now under the possession of that crazed girl, Cherry. He didn't want to open his eyes. He wanted to believe this was all a dream...

"There's your dang payment."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Don't ever ask me that. There's too many things to count...Hmm, looks like he's awake."

Lincoln dared not open his eyes until he began to hear footsteps coming straight towards...

"Open your eyes. It's not I'm gonna turn you to stone."

Deciding to do what she says, Lincoln slowly opens his eyes to see a teenage girl towering over him. He could assume it was Cherry. She wasn't as scary as he thought she might be, but she definitely looked crazy...

"Nice to see you're awake, little one.", Cherry said. "My name is Cherry."

"Yeah, I know who you are.", Lincoln said coldly."

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you.", said Cherry. "I just wanna keep you. All to myself."

"You're crazy.", Lincoln said in her face.

"That's never been up to debate now, hasn't it?", Cherry says. "But please, you can trust me. I would never harm a kid."

"Just let me go.", demanded Lincoln. "I don't want to be here...I just want to go home now."

"You're not going anywhere.", stated Cherry. "I'll make sure of that. You belong to me now."

"What do you even want from me?!", asked Lincoln.

Cherry replied, "I just want you. My last chance for comfort."

"What?", Lincoln said, being confused.

"Everyone else failed me...I had a feeling you won't.", Cherry explained. "We're not so different. You and I."

"Please, just let me go!", yelled out Lincoln.

Suddenly, Lincoln felt a blade coming close to his neck. Cherry was now holding him at spear point, seeing the terror in his eyes...

"Listen to me...", She commanded. "I've waited for so long to get my hands on you, and now, I finally have you. I'm not gonna let anything spoil the moment! Do you hear me?"

Lincoln said nothing as Cherry began to back away, turning her back on him. But then, so suddenly, she turns around once more and throws her spear right next to his head, having him paralyzed with fear...

"Not ever your friends, my old friends, are gonna get in my way.", Cherry stated. "I hope you understand that."

Taking back her spear, Cherry began to walk away from her prisoner, laughing madly as her goons limped after, Frank and Joshua were moaning in pain while Margaret shuddered in fear. With them out of his sight, Lincoln began to work on the chain clamped to his left wrist, wondering if there was any way to get out of it. After a few minutes, he wasn't able to take it off and gave up, believing that he was gonna be here for a while...

"What have I do to deserve this?", he whimpered to himself. "Somebody, please...Mom, Dad, Lori, anybody...help me."

* * *

Meanwhile, Shannon was running down the street, panicking after what happened last night. She told Carol and some other friends to meet her at the sidewalk the next day. She had a feeling that their reactions to what happen wouldn't even be remorseful. Soon enough, she saw Carol, Mandee, Jackie, Whitney Dana, Chaz and Greg. Now it was time for her to face the music...

"Shannon, are you alright?", asked Carol. "You look exhausted."

"Forget about me!", Shannon yelled. "It happened! Lincoln was caught!"

"WHAT?!", the majority of the group went.

"Last night.", Shannon began to explain. "We heard noise coming from outside. Lincoln insisted on going alone to check it out."

"And you didn't think to convince him to take you with him?!", questioned Whitney.

"I swear. I wanted to go with him.", stated Shannon.

"You should have then!", yelled Dana. "If you had been watching Lincoln like you were supposed to, this wouldn't have happened!"

"Can we please not focus on that now?!", yelled out Jackie.

Mandee added, "She's right. We need to focus on saving Lincoln now!"

"Carol, do you have any ideas or plans?", Shannon asked.

Carol replied sheepishly, "I...I don't know. I never thought this would actually happen."

"Seriously?", said Dana.

"We got to think of something!", stated Shannon. "Anything that'll rescue Lincoln."

"...I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Shannon.", Carol said.

Shannon asked, "What do you mean?"

"It's been a year since the last time we saw Cherry.", Carol explained. "Who know what she has up her sleeve? How smart and insane she has gotten?"

"I can help out with that.", said Greg, getting everyone's attention. "I know all about Cherry like the back of my hand. I never stopped...getting to know her."

"What are you saying?", asked Carol.

"I might know where she is.", he explained. "I know how to get to her."

Carol pulled herself back together, saying, "Alright. We all made a promise that we were gonna watch over that boy and protect him! That promise still stands! We're getting him back!"

"Are we all gonna head over to that Psycho Chick's place?", asked Chaz.

"You do not have to come.", answered Dana.

Chaz replied, "Well, I'm not gonna miss this."

"I'm definitely coming too.", said Shannon. "I need to make this right."

"Great, so we're all going.", stated Carol. "I'll call the rest of our friends and tell them to wait for us at the club."

"Come on!", commanded Dana. "Let's go get our little friend back."

* * *

Back to Lincoln, things turned from frightening to boring for him, as he was just left, chained to the wall with nothing to do. He just banging his head against the wall, wanting to knock himself out until he saw Margaret staring at him, having a bored expression on her face as well...

"What do you want?", Lincoln asked her.

"...You should consider yourself lucky.", said Margaret.

"How exactly am I lucky right now?", he asked.

"Cherry likes you.", she answered. "You don't have to deal with crud you go through while being her little attack dog."

Lincoln replied, "She must put you through torture then, huh?"

"Pretty much.", Margaret said. "And it seems to just get worse for us."

"...What is your name?", asked Lincoln.

"... Margaret.", she answered.

"Well, Margret...what would you want if I asked you to help get me out of here?"

Margret laughed at that question, saying "Seriously? There's nothing you could offer me."

"I promise you.", started Lincoln. "I'll get you anything you want in exchange for my freedom."

"No way, kid.", Margaret said. "I don't trust you, and secondly, Cherry would kill me if she found out I let you go. You're better off on your own."

Before he got the chance to say anything else, Margaret already began to walk away. Left alone again, Lincoln gave out a heavy sigh, planting the back of his head against the wall once more...

* * *

A little while later, Carol and her friends were moving through the woods, being lead by Greg, who manages to help them find Cherry's hideout. An old abandoned warehouse that's been hiding in the woods this whole time. Not too far from it, the group was hiding in shrubbery, wondering how the plan was gonna be. Meanwhile, Carol gives the people back at the club a heads up on where they're at...

"We found Cherry's hideout. We're gonna figure out how we're gonna get in and get Lincoln out. Can you guys see us?"

Rex, on the other line replied, saying, "Yep, we see you just fine."

"Alright. But can you explain to me again how you are able to see us?", she then asked.

"Oh, I just added a bunch of cameras around the woods during my free time.", Rex explained.

"Nice work.", Carol said. "Way to plan ahead."

Rex replied, "It was nothing."

"I don't like being out in the woods too much.", said Whitney. "I'm afraid that I my hair might get caught in some things."

"Stay focused, Whitney.", said Shannon. "We got a little boy to save."

"So, anyway. This is where Cherry's been living for the past year now.", Greg explained.

"And you know this how?", Whitney asked.

"I've been keeping tabs on her for quite a while.", he answered.

"...So basically, you've been stalking her?", Mandee asked, creeped out.

Greg replied, "Well, that's one way to put it."

Everyone shivered at the thought of Greg secretly stalking his ex-best friend for an entire year, something he got unamused by...

"Anyway...Cherry's likely to have set up some traps around her place, so be very careful where you step.", he told everyone.

"Doesn't that see a little overboard?", questioned Chaz. "I mean, what are the chances that-"

Before he could finish, Chaz felt something tighten around his ankle and the swoop him off his feet and then dangling on a tree. Chaz was caught in a rope trap...

"Okay...I stand corrected.", Chaz said, sheepishly.

"Doesn't look like you're standing at all.", Dana remarked. "Now that we know this place is booby-trapped, let's just all try to act carefully and not trigger anymore."

And then, Dana felt something sharp clamp onto her leg, she looked down and saw that she triggered a bear trap. That was scary for everyone, seeing that there's probably more of them in the opening surrounding the warehouse. Greg grabbed both ends of the bear trap and pried them open, then took out a knife and cut the rope from which Chaz hung by, making him fall...

Carol then said, "Okay...why don't we all just take deep breath...and run."

And with that, the entire group began to run through the opening, triggering a whole bunch of traps, bear traps mostly, and some that are even a little explosive. They made it to the warehouse, covered in cuts and bruises...

"Well...that went well.", said Jackie, cracking her back.

"Now, how do we get inside?", asked Shannon.

Looking around, Carol saw that there was a side door on the right, and a open window and the second floor...

She then commanded, "Dana, you, Shannon, Whitney and Chaz take the side door, we'll take that window."

"We can't all go through the side door?", Whitney asked

"Because Chaz is already way ahead of you.", Carol pointing to the fat dude who was about to charge into a small door.

Shannon groaned saying, "Message received."

"And just how are we gonna get up a two story window?", Mandee questioned.

"We could use this." suggested Greg, bringing out some rope.

"Where did you get that?", Carol asked.

"I took it off the tree before we ran here.", Greg explained. "Thought it might come in handy."

"Well, something's better than nothing.", Carol accepted, taking the rope and begins to use it as a lasso. She manages to wrap a handle bar from the roof and have the rope secure enough for them to start climbing. Meanwhile, Dana, Whitney and Shannon waited to see how Chaz was gonna go through the door this time. However...

"Hey, guys! It looks like I just squeeze right through. Just give me a shove!", Chaz said happily.

"...You heard him.", Shannon told Dana.

"What?", Dana said.

"Give him a shove.", Whitney said with a smirk on her face.

"But...why do I-? ...Ugh, fine.", Dana unfortunately accepted, beginning to help push Chaz through the door. While they do that, Carol's group was already heading up to the second floor, and they already getting tired...

"Carol, did you really think this was the best idea?!", Mandee said exhaustively.

Carol wiped some sweat off her head, saying "In retrospect, not really."

"Why didn't we just use that latter?", Jackie pointed out to. All their heads turned to see a steel latter next to the wall...

"None of us noticed that before?", questioned Greg.

"Welp...too late now.", Carol said sheepishly, getting angry faces from Mandee and Jackie.

And so, both groups managed to get inside from different way, being how Dana managed to finally push Chaz through the door, and how it only took 30 minutes to climb up to a two story window. Once inside, they were kind of surprised by what they saw. Place almost looked like it was from TMNT, having a place to chill, a place that looks like it's for training, a table that looked to be covered in pictures. And a opening on the side that none of them saw just yet...

"Wow.", Carol said. "Cherry did all this?"

"I would say so.", Greg answered. "She had an entire year to do it."

"Let's just find Lincoln and get out of here.", Mandee demanded.

"Yeah. Agreed.", Jackie added.

Where Chaz's group was, they were looking at the table that had dozens of pictures on it. Some of them, being with Cherry and some of them hanging out and a whole lot of them being torn apart and covered in ink...

"I guess she never stopped thinking about us.", Dana said, feeling concerned.

"Sure looks that way.", Chaz said.

"H-Hello? Is somebody there?"

That voice got everyone's attention, as Carol's group got back down to ground level and met up with the others. They followed that voice to that side opening and were surprised to see who it was. Their old friend, Lincoln, sitting on the ground and having his left hand chained to the wall...

"Lincoln!", they all shouted in joy.

Lifting up his head, happiness was shown on the boy's face as he said, "I knew you guys would come for me."

"We're gonna get you out of here, Lincoln.", Dana told him. "Just hold still."

Looking for something to try and get Lincoln free, Mandee found a brick and began to try and smash the chain. And while she did that, Shannon got close to Lincoln, looking a little sad.

"Lincoln, I'm sorry that I let you get kidnapped the other night. I should've been looking out for you better."

"It's okay.", he told her. "It was mostly my fault too."

They smiled at each other while Mandee grunted in frustrating, having the brick in her hand crumble and disintegrate...

"Well, that didn't work.", she said, unamused. "Anybody got any other ideas?"

"Ooh! I got one!", said Chaz, holding something in his hands. "Let's use this axe! Hold still, Lincoln, or you might lose a hand."

But before he could do anything, the others hurriedly stopped him, with Shannon grabbing the axe from him.

"Let me do it!", she yelled out to him. "My hands are steadier than yours."

"Uh, are we sure about this?", said Lincoln, getting afraid.

Shannon replied, "It's fine. Just...try to stay away from the chain."

As Lincoln tried to back away as much as he can, Shannon gripped the axe tightly and gave it a swing. The chain blasted into two very cleanly. Now free, Lincoln wanted to hug the first people he saw, and that was Carol and Dana. They greatly returned the huh, now glad to know that their friend was free and things were gonna be alright. That was...until they heard some slow clapping and turned to see Cherry and her Goons coming towards them...

"You guys have impeccable timing. I'll give you that.", she said. "But nobody...is going...anywhere."

Taking something from her pocket, Cherry pressed a button that made all the exits on the first floor close shut. This left everyone trapped and getting afraid as the four psychos in front of them got closer...

"Greg? Can't you talk to her?", asked Carol. That name seem to have got Cherry's attention, as she turned over to the guy in the brown hoodie.

"What? Me?", he questioned.

"You and she were old friends.", Carol explained. "You can talk some sense into her."

Greg looked at Cherry, who glared at him, having never wanted to see his face again. He knew that simply talking to him was gonna be futile...

"I doubt she'll listen...but I'll give it a shot...Cherry?"

"Oh, shut up.", she said, right before hitting Greg out cold with the blunt end of her weapon. It seemed like the group was pretty much out of ideas. But then, Carol saw an the windows were still open. It's not the best idea, but it was all she had in mind...

"Dana, take Lincoln and everyone else and get out of here.", she told her friend.

"Are you nuts?", Dana asked

"Just go!", Carol yelled. "And give me that axe!"

Taking the axe from Shannon, Carol takes a stance against Cherry and her goons while the others escape.

"Make sure they don't get far.", Cherry tells Margaret, who gestures at Frank to follow her. "You have to be pretty darn stupid to stick around.", she tells Carol. "Who knew you had some guts in you after all."

"I don't want to hurt anybody.", Carol said, seeing how Cherry and Joshua laugh at her.

"You can barely hold up that axe.", Joshua states. "What makes you think you can take us on?"

"Like I said, I don't want to use this. Let's just talk.", Carol said. "Cherry, I'm sorry for what happened to you. We're responsible for that, but you don't have to do this. Let me help you."

"Help me?", Cherry questioned. "I don't need your help. I don't need any kind of help, because frankly, I like the way I am. It makes me happy."

"I can tell you're lying.", Carol said. "You never liked this side of yourself. There's still a chance."

Carol replied, "You know? I'm kind of getting sick of hearing your voice, Carol. So if you're seriously gonna use that thing, then I won't hold my breath."

Taking her naginata, Cherry took a stance, as did Joshua, bringing out a retractable baton. Carol started the fight, taking a swing at the two and doing her best to avoid their own attacks. She blocked some of Cherry's attacks, having both their blades clash one time after the other, but it was two against one and some stuck she was unprepared for, like Joshua getting her from behind and Cherry managing to cut her arm. Not long after, Carol was covered in cuts and bruises, but she wasn't backing down. The two psychos laughed at her while they closed in, allowing Carol to take her shot. Swinging her axe like a baseball bat, she strikes Joshua in the face. Fortunately for him, she hit with the flat side of the axe, knocking him to the ground, so therefore, she's not a murderer...

"Hmph. Useless.", Cherry muttered to herself, unprepared for another of Carol's attacks. Moving as quickly as she could, Cherry brought her naginata up, only for Carol to swing her axe downward and chop her weapon in half. This is left Cherry shocked; it was her favorite spear...

"You didn't-!", she said, right before her face met the end of the axe's handle. Meanwhile, the teens had made it up the the second floor were already heading out the window. Mandee, Jackie, Whitney, Shannon and Lincoln had already gone outside. Dana was about to head next, but...

"Out of the way, make some room! MOVE!", yelled Chaz, pushing Dama out of the way. "FREEDOOM!"

But then, surprise, surprise. Chaz ended up getting stuck in the window, beginning to panic, kicking his feet while wanting to get out..

"I'm stuck! Give me some help!", he yelled out, as he felt Dana begin to try and push him through...

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!", said Dana, pushing with her hands.

"Wait! Don't push me out, pull me back in!", Chaz yelled!

"What?! Why?!", questioned Dana.

"Because we're two stories up, and it's a long way down!", Chaz said, panicking as he saw the ground below him.

It was then that Frank and Margaret managed to head up the latter on the opposite side, bringing out their weapons. Frank with his baseball bat and Margaret with a daishō sword.

"End of the line, ladies!", Margaret said, sadistically.

"We don't have time for this!", yelled Dana furiously, beginning to kick Chaz through the window with all her strength. Chaz managed to pop right through the window, then fall to the ground...and on top of the girls, who all groaned in pain...

"Ouch.", went Mandee."

"You know, that didn't hurt as bad I thought it would've.", said Chaz, feeling relieved.

"Speak for yourself!", groan Whitney.

"Geronimo!", went Dana as she began to head down.

"Wait!", said Chaz, right before Dana landed on top of him. "Okay, that one hurt."

"You know, Chaz. This whole 'getting stuck' is getting out of hand.", Dana said, unamused.

"Hey, I'm not the only one with a wait problem!", Chaz said, trying to defend himself. "Just...look at Carlota."

Shannon replied, "At least she tries to deal with the problem. All you keep doing is stuffing your face!"

"B-But-", Chaz couldn't think of anything to go against that.

Back to Carol, she breathing heavily, tightly gripping onto the old axe in her hands as she saw that her last blow left Cherry with a bloody, broken nose as the psycho chick looked at her with angry eyes...

"Broke into my home...broke my favorite toy...broke my nose...", listed Cherry, growling. "You really like to break things, don't you, Carol?"

Carol replied, "I'm just ridding you of your problems, Cherry."

Just as Cherry was going in for a charge, Carol smacks her with the flat side of the axe and knocks her down. Seeing her chance to escape, Carol grabs hold of Greg and begins to drag him towards the latter, but the last hit she did on Cherry didn't knock her out cold. Just as Carol made it to the latter, Greg grabs her by the shoulder, facing her...

He tells her, "You gotta get out of here, Carol."

"Yeah, we both do.", she replied, as she holds him and tries to begin to climb.

"No, just you.", Greg says. "I'm slowing you down here."

"What?!", Carol says.

"Just go.", Greg tells her. "I'll might up with you later."

Carol tells him, "There's no way I'm leaving you here!", right before the sharp end of Cherry's spear come flying by her head, and she sees the psycho coming towards her again. "Okay, fine. I'll go.", she says, leaving Greg on the ground, climbing up the latter, passing Frank and Margaret and then jumping out of the window, falling down and onto Chaz, who was recovering from Dana landing...

"Huh. Soft landing.", she joked, getting off of Chaz.

"Where's Greg?", Lincoln asks her, seeing the shame on her face.

"He couldn't make it.", she said, sadly. Everyone felt like they were mourning. Greg was the one who help them find this place; they couldn't have found Lincoln without him. He was still inside, straining to climb the ladder, only to be pulled back down by Cherry's goon, who, with their boss, looked down on him with evil looks on their faces...

"I may have lost somethings today...but I think I got something better." Cherry said, wiping some blood from her mouth.

"Do as you please.", all Greg had to say as the four loomed over him.


	18. Chapter 18: A little more Girl Power

Lincoln and the teens were walking through a dirt path in the woods, heading back to the club. They were all exhausted, tired, a tad bit hungry, but mostly, they were sad. They left Greg behind in the hands Cherry and her goons. It was wrong for them to have left him like that, they'd do anything to make it up for him...

"Greg...poor kid.", Carol said.

"I can't believe we lost him.", said Dana. "If only there was some way to get him back."

"...Maybe there is.", Lincoln says.

"Maybe, but not right now.", said Whitney. "We're exhausted."

"Whitney's right, Lincoln.", added Shannon. "We've been through a lot today, and we all need to rest."

"Just hear me out...", said Lincoln, before getting cut off.

"Give it a rest, Lincoln!", said Chaz. "We need a break!"

"Besides, we're not gonna risk losing you again.", Mandee said.

Lincoln raised his voice, saying, "I'm not saying that we go to try and get him right now. But, I might have a plan."

"You do?", asked Carol.

"Yeah, but we're gonna need everyone.", Lincoln stated.

Not too long after, at the Club were some of their friends waiting for some good news. Parvana, Lyberti, Rex, Carlota, Fiona, Sam and Mazzy to be exact. Some waited at tables, Rex stared at a computer that was showing video feed from the woods, Parvana and Lyberti were pacing the floors as the group soon came in. They were very relieved to see that they were all okay, especially Lincoln...

"Oh, thank goodness.", said Lyberti. "Lincoln, it's so glad to see you're okay."

Lincoln replied, "Yeah. Well, it's bittersweet for us, since Greg ended up captured this time."

"You gotta be kidding me!", said Rex.

"We'll get him back.", said Carol. "For now, we'll need to listen to Lincoln. He's got a plan."

"And it's gonna require a whole lot more people.", Lincoln said. "Everybody listen..."

* * *

Back at the Loud house, just about everyone seemed tired, haven't been getting out of bed for hours now. Lori was lost in her train of thought, Leni was on the verge of crying, Luna was playing with the strings on her guitar, Luan covered her face with a joke book, Lynn and Lucy were laying face down in on their beds, feeling dead inside, Lana cuddled Hops, Lola was crying into a tissue, Lisa want to work, but couldn't get herself to, and Lily was sound asleep. Their parents had let the others girl stay at their home, having been sleeping in the living room, and at this point, the Loud Sisters were on the verge of depression...

"There's nothing I want more right now than to have Lincoln in my arms right about now, and to tell him how much I love him.", said Leni.

"Believe me, Leni. I know exactly how you feel.", Lori told her sister. "...I just wish he would come back home now."

"Will we be searching again soon?", asked Leni.

"Yeah, but it's been a long week.", Lori said. "We need to get rest."

"But we've all been in bed for 10 hours now.", Leni stated.

"Seven.", Lori corrected. "And it feels like it's not enough. We all need to...", She yawned. "...regain our energy if we to keep going."

"...Okay.", said Leni, still not feeling so much better.

All the while, Luna continued to play with the strings on her guitar, thinking of wanting to make a song for her brother, but she finds nothing to work with and grows frustrated. Eventually, she just throws the guitar away from her and covers her face with her hands, beginning to cry softly as she misses Lincoln...

"I just can't seem to rock with Lincoln.", she said with a breaking voice. "He always had good taste in music."

"Yeah? Well nothing seems to be funny anymore with him either.", said Luan.

"Nothing was funny to begin in the first place with you.", Luna remarked.

"Hey! There's no need to say stuff like that!", Luan yelled. "You acted like Lincoln's dead. We don't know that."

"All I want is to see him again.", said Luna.

"That's what we all want.", Luan stated.

Heading towards Lynn and Lucy, both appeared to be depressed. It seems like they feel same way at this point, not wanting to do anything and just stay face down in bed. But so long after, did Lucy begin to move from bed and head over to Lynn...

"Hey, Lynn?", she said.

"Yeah?", Lynn said in a muffled voice.

"You feel depressed too about this whole thing?", Lucy asks her sister.

"Uh-huh.", Lynn responded.

"Do you Lincoln is okay?", Lucy continued to ask.

"I don't really care at this point.", Lynn answered.

Surprised by that, Lucy then asks her, "How can you say that?"

Moving around so that her face was showing, Lucy could see that her sister was actually looking pretty exhausted...

"Look at me, Lucy.", Lynn said. "Do you really think I'd are about anything at this point?"

"This is so not like you, Lynn.", Lucy commented.

"Then you don't really know me.", Lynn said. "I just...I just want him back."

"...We all do.", said Lucy, wanting to comfort her sister.

In the Twins' room, Lana was cuddling her pet frog Hops, while Lola was blowing her nose into a tissue, being so timid at this point, that she was regretting everything she's ever done wrong towards her brother...

"If only I didn't blackmail him, or treat him like a servant!", Lola said, sniffing.

"Couldn't agreed more.", Lana said blankly.

"Huh?", Lola said.

"You always act like a total brat around him.", Lana told her sister. With that, Lola grew angry

"Hey! Don't blame this whole thing one me!", she yelled. "I'm sure you did some bad things to him as well!"

"Maybe, but at least they weren't as bad as you!", Lana said. "I treated Lincoln with great respect, while you worked him to the bone! You can't deny that, Lola!"

The pageant queen was about to say something back, but she had to admit that her sister had a point. She felt on the the verge of crying again, and even Lana started to regret what she said...

She sighed saying, "Lola, I-"

"No, don't.", Lola interrupted. "... You're right. I'm just a huge brat...what I wouldn't give to have a hug from Lincoln right now."

"...Me too.", Lana said.

In the living room, Ronnie Anne was waking up from her sleep, feeling like there was top of her. She tried to get up, but what was on her felt heavy and had some hair in Ronnie Anne's face. It was Kat, she fell asleep on top of Ronnie Anne, which was something she wasn't too happy about. Managing to get up, Ronnie Anne flopped Kat over to the other side of the bed and stretched herself out...

Yawning, she asked, "What time is it, Jordan? ...Jordan?"

Seeing that Girl Jordan was no where around, Ronnie Anne looked around the house. Heading upstairs and passing the bedrooms full of depressed girls, she turned over to Lincoln's bedroom, where she found Girl Jordan sitting on Lincoln bed, looking at a photo on her phone...

"You alright?", Ronnie Anne asked her.

"Not really.", Girl Jordan answered. "I'm actually starting to miss him myself."

Ronnie Anne replied, "Yeah, I know the feeling."

But then, Girl Jordan turned towards her and said, "If you know something about his whereabouts, you better say something, because everyone's getting depressed."

"I swear, I don't know where he is at this point.", Ronnie Anne stated. "I've already told everything I know."

"Hmph.", went Girl Jordan. "Well...if we're going to go back to that club soon...you better pray that he's there."

"What's with that all of a sudden?", asked Ronnie Anne. "Everyone's getting depressed over nothing. We're all just tired! We're acting like Lincoln's dead. He had to be alright! ...He has to be."

"...Sorry.", Girl Jordan said. "I just wish he was back already."

"... I'm pretty sure that's how everyone feels at this point.", said Ronnie Anne.

Lisa overheard what those girls what they were saying, not able to get the thought of her brother out of her mind. She wanted to work on her experiments, her research, but she just couldn't. She was too tired, and getting too depressed to work on anything. She'd didn't think she'd be showing emotion as this. She began to think it was funny how she continued to show human emotion as such convenient times. It was then that the sight of her sister, Lily, holding a picture of her and Lincoln together and crying over it made her more upset. She decides to take Lily and hold her close, wanting to show her some comfort...

"I miss him too, Lily.", she told her baby sister. "I really do. Life just seems...incomplete without him."

Lily saw the sorrow in Lisa'a eyes as well and held onto her tightly. Her embrace was the comfort she needed right now. But eventually, Lisa felt Lily's grip weaken, and saw that her little sister had fallen asleep in her arms. Giving a smile, she carries Lily back into her grip, puts the picture right next to her and then begins to lose herself in her own train of thought. If she couldn't work, she can at least lose herself in her own mind. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Lynn Sr. was on the phone, talking to the police, wanting to file a missing report for Lincoln. Rita sat at the table, silently weeping with her hands covering her face. She was regretting not being there when he needed her support. The stress of having eleven kids, most of them being girls, had taken its tole on her. She was beginning to hate herself for it...

"That's right officer, he's been missing for over a week now.", Lynn Sr. said over the phone. "He has white hair...No, he's not an albino, he just has...natural white hair...well then, thank you for your time.", he hangs up the phone, feeling a bit peeved. "The nerve of some people."

"I should've been there for him more.", said Rita silently.

"Huh?", went Lynn Sr., listening to what his wife was saying.

"I should've been more reasonable.", Rita went on. "Like the time at the grocery store, all he wanted was cereal, it wasn't even his fault. I should've been there for him more. I shouldn't have been more neglectful."

"Honey, please. Don't beat yourself up like this.", Lynn Sr. said. "You're just exhausted and stressed. Don't let that get to you."

"Lynn, our son ran away, and one reason being was that we were not there when we needed to be.". Rita stated.

"It was just bad timing.", Lynn Sr. tried to defend.

"He punched his own in the face, ran away and as far as I can tell, most of our family takes him for granted.", Rita explained. "He mostly had every right to have run. We gave it to him."

"We will find him, Rita.", Lynn Sr. told his wife. "I promise."

Rita replied, "...He doesn't want to be found...I know that for certain."

Seeing the sorrow coming from his wife, Lynn Sr. simply embraced her, wanting to replace her hopelessness with comfort...

Lynn Sr. then said, "It's not like the solution to our problems is gonna come knocking at our door."

It was then that somebody came knocking at our door, surprising the couple as they headed for the living room. Opening it, they were greeted by Carol, who was looking pretty tired herself...

"Mr. and Mrs. Loud, I need your help.", she said straight away.

"Nice to see you too, Carol.", Rita said. "But, what do you need our help with?"

"There's no time to explain.", Carol stated. "I'm gonna need those girls over there.", she pointed towards Renee, Kat and Mollie sleeping on the chairs and couch.

"Carol, what is this about?", Lynn Sr. demanded. "And do you anything about where our son is?"

"...If you help me you, I promise that you'll see your son again.", said Carol.

Lynn Sr. replied, "You better not be lying to us, Carol."

"Trust me.", she said. "I'm telling the truth. Just please, let me have the girls."

The couple gave themselves some time to think. They're weren't entirely sure if they could trust Carol right now, but if her word is genuine, then they could get a chance to see Lincoln again...

"Well...they're still sleeping right now, Carol.", Rita said. "Do you mind coming back in the morning?"

"...Sure. I can wait that long.", Carol said. "And I'll make sure to have the girls back by the afternoon."

"And you swear we'll see our son again?", Lynn Sr. questioned.

"I do.", Carol said. "I swear."

And with that, Rita and Lynn Sr accepted Carol's proposal. The next day, she picked up the girls up with her own car, a purple convertible, and drove off, heading towards the woods.

"So, where are you taking us?", asked Ronnie Anne.

"To your doom.", Carol answered jokingly."

"Say what now?", Girl Jordan asked hysterically.

Carol replied, "I'm just joking. No, we're heading over to the club Lori showed you guys. We have people waiting for you."

"Can you put the top up?", asked Kat. "This wind is messing with my hair."

"I second that.", Renee said. "I can't get her hair out of my face!"

"Deal with it.", Kat said. "It's gonna be a long ride."

"Can't you at least try to move it yourself?", Renee asked her.

Kat answered, "Nope. It's just like that."

"You're unbelievable.", Renee told her.

"Alright!", Carol intervened. "I'll put up the top, so you guys can stop complaining."

"Good.", both girls answered at the same time.

It wasn't long before they reached the club, but before they went inside, the girls pulled Carol inside, wanting some answers...

"Carol, can't you just tell us as to why dragging us out here was so important?", Ronnie Anne asked.

Girl Jordan added on, "Yeah, and why just us?"

"Do you guys really want to find Lincoln?", Carol then asked them.

"Yeah!", all the girls went.

"Then just shut up for a second and come inside.", she told them, surprising them by her town.

* * *

Inside, Lincoln was talking to Fiona, Miguel, Parvana, Lyberti and Rex about how they're gonna help with the plan. They would be the lookouts, and have specific places to be...

"Now, since we can't back track to where exactly Cherry is in the woods, each of you are gonna have to stick to the shadows, try to get as close as possible.", he told them.

They all agreed to where he was going with this. But soon after, the doors of the club opened and Carol showed up with the girls, just as how Lincoln wanted...

"Right on time.", he said.

The girls were wide eyes, seeing Lincoln after spending so much time searching for him. He was kind of expecting that reaction from them, merely stepping forward to see what they were gonna do next. He was only hoping that it was something good...

"Lincoln...", Girl Jordan spoke, before running towards him and hugging him.

"Mmm... it's good to see you, Jordan.", Lincoln said, right before being dogpiled by the rest of the girls.

"Where have you been, man?!", Renee asks.

"I've just been with some friends.", Lincoln answered.

"We've all been missing you!", Mollie said.

"You kind of owe your family an apology at the moment.", Kat added

"Yeah, I know.", Lincoln said, sadly.

"... I'm still pretty happy to see you, though.", Kat said.

Lincoln replied, "That's good to hear."

As the girls got off of him, he faintly recognized Kat and Renee from the time he gave advise about girls and the other time his friends tried to set him up after Ronnie Anne moved away...

He said to them, "Kat, Renee. Nice seeing you two again. But, I hope you don't mind me asking: Why are you here?"

"When we heard that you had gone missing from Ronnie Anne, we figured we help them out in trying to find you.", Renee explained.

"It...would also give us a chance to apologise from the way we treated you before.", Kat added.

"Eh. That stuff happened a long while ago.", Lincoln said. "It's all water under the bridge now."

"That's good to hear.", Kat said.

"Yeah. We're all cool.", said Renee.

Ronnie Anne, who wasn't really looking too happy at the moment, merely walks up to Lincoln and slaps him across the face. He'd expect nothing less of her...

"...Ow.", Lincoln went, rubbing his cheek.

"That's for putting me through all this.", Ronnie Anne said. Lincoln glared at her until, by surprise, Ronnie Anne gave him a small little peck on the cheek, making herself and Lincoln blush. "That's for...everything else.", she then said...

"Thanks...And, sorry.", Lincoln said with a smile.

"It's okay.", Ronnie Anne told her.

"So, what's going on here?", Girl Jordan asked Lincoln.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story.", Lincoln said.

Renee spoke up saying, "Well, we got some time to kill."

"Okay. So recently, while hanging out with these guys, I was...kidnapped.", explained Lincoln, shocking the girls. "...By a psycho chick named Cherry. But they managed to get me out, however, we kind of left someone behind in the process."

"How could you guys let that happen?", Ronnie Anne asked, almost angrily.

"Hey! He was half unconscious!", defended Carol. "And he decided to stay behind so the rest of us could escape!"

"Greg was Cherry's best friend before.", Dana said. "She'll go easy on him. She has to."

Lincoln then told the girls, "And the reason why you guys are here is because we need your help to save him."

"Well, what can we do?", asked Kat.

"I'm glad you asked.", said Lincoln. "Because I have a whole plan laid out and Ronnie Anne and Girl Jordan were the only ones gonna be part of it, but I guess you three girls in as well."

"Gee, thanks.", Renee said sarcastically.

"Alright, so here's how the plan is gonna go.", said Lincoln. "So, Carol thinks that Cherry may have moved to another location by now. Not sure how she could've found a new hiding spot so fast, but we're gonna go with that."

And then, Lincoln brings out a map of the woods. Having some places that were marked, indicating the locations of where the club is and where Cherry's hideout is.

"Cherry's hideout was right here.", he said, pointing to a red x, indicating Cherry's old hideout. "And since she may have moved, she could be anywhere around the woods, but we did some research and found that there were several abandoned warehouses around here."

"So, Cherry must've moved to at least one of them", Ronnie Anne said.

"Right, 'cause there's no where else she could've gone.", Lincoln said. "Not unless she was heading into town, or left Royal Woods."

"So then, how do you plan on finding which is the right warehouse?", asked Mollie.

Shannon spoke out, feeling awkward when saying, "We, uh...didn't think about that yet."

"Seriously?", Ronnie Anne said.

"But we did some research and found that each warehouse has a nearly identical design.", explained Lincoln. "And we managed to print out a map for both outside and inside. Which is where these come in.", Then, Lincoln brings out two more maps. First, he shows a map of the outside of the warehouse.

"So this is how the plan is gonna go.", he said. "We each have a team of several people head over to every opposite side of the warehouse: We have Ronnie Anne at the front door with Parvana and Shannon. Then, on the rood, we have Miguel, Mandee and Jackie, see if there's an entrance on top."

"You got it.", said Mandee.

And Jordan, you and Mollie are gonna go on opposites of the warehouse to see if there's a side door, alright?"

"No problem.", Girl Jordan said.

"Sure thing.", said Mollie.

"Okay, another quick way into the warehouse is through the vents. But it's like a maze, and a pretty tight space as well. Carol, Dana, Fiona, Carlota. I'm trusting you three to make it through the vents."

"I'm just hoping our hair doesn't get caught.", said Carol.

"Eh. That rarely ever happens.", said Dana.

"I'm not sure me going through a vent is a good idea.", said Carlota.

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Carlota.", said Fiona. "Besides, I've noticed how you've gotten a tad bit thinner?"

Carlota asked her, "You have?"

"Yeah, I've noticed that too.", said Carol. "Have you been trying to lose weight?"

"Well, I have been dieting.", said Carlota. "Trying to cut back on some of the stuff I eat. And I have been trying to do a lot of exercise recently. Wasn't sure if it was helping though."

"Did you do mostly cardio and leg workouts?", asked Lincoln.

"How could you tell?", asked Carlota?

Lincoln answered, "Your legs.", seeing how strong and muscular they have become.

Renee spoke out, saying. "Um, what about us? What do we get to do?"

"Well, I suppose I can let you two go with Carol and-"

"Nuh-uh. No way am I going through a vent.", said Kat.

"Oh, just deal with it.", said Renee.

"Wait, Lincoln. Where are you gonna be in all this?", asked Girl Jordan.

"He's not going.", said Lyberti.

"Oh really?", said Kat. "So you just get to laze around while we do all the heavy work?"

"We can't risk him being captured again.", said Lyberti. "I'll stay with him and protect him."

"So will I.", said Rex. "We don't need so many people in the field."

"Great.", said Lincoln. "Now that we all know where we are, let's get this plan into action."

* * *

Meanwhile, with Cherry and her goons were busy loading things from a van into a new hideout while the psycho herself was sitting alone, fiddling with her spear that she was barely able to fix. She was lost in her anger, ticked about having lost her prize so soon...

"I had the kid.", she said. "I had him. In my grasp. And yet, that prick made me have him slip through my fingers. When I get my hands on them, I'm gonna put through all kinds of torture, having them beg for death."

"Hey, why do we even have to help you move?", Frank asked her. "All you asked for was the kid, so why should we continue helping your sorry but out?"

Hearing the sound of his irritating voice made Cherry quickly get up, turn around and throw her weapon at Frank's head. He was lucky that he missed, as her spear had plunged through the side of the van. With her eye beginning to twitch, Cherry walks crazily towards her minion.

"Oh, I'm sorry.", said Cherry, crazily. "I'm sorry I haven't paid you fellas yet. But let's get one thing straight. I'm not afraid of you, but you DEFINITELY should be afraid of me. And I find you questioning your job again...you'll be begging for mercy when I'm done with you! And I'm. Not. Kidding around..."

As Cherry got all up in Frank's face, he couldn't help but feel afraid around her now as she grabbed her spear, headed inside the new warehouse. Inside, she had Greg chained up to a bed and he was looking like he hasn't slept in a while. Cherry wanted to keep him cozy, but being someone's prisoner makes that difficult. He lifts his head up and faces her, looking...expressionless...

"...How are you holding up?", she asks him.

Greg replied, "I've been better...but it's good seeing you again."

"Likewise.", Cherry said.

"Really?", asked Greg. "That's surprising, considering the fact that you knocked me unconscious two days ago."

"Oh, get over it.", said Cherry. "To be honest, I really didn't like how I hurt you like that. But I'm having very mixed emotions about seeing again."

"You still want the kid, though. Don't you?", he then asks her. To which, she replies, "Of course, I do. Second time should be the charm, right?"

"You're not gonna find them, Cherry.", said Greg. "Those guys are bound to be far away from the woods be now."

"Yeah...I wouldn't be too sure about that.", said Cherry, showing Greg a tablet that has the video feed from cameras that seem to be scattered all around the woods. One of them, showing that the group is walking through the woods at the moment.

Greg asks her, "You've been spying on us?", but Cherry answers, "Actually they've been spying on me. But Margaret's pretty handy with a computer. Took her only a minute to hack into all those cameras. They're all well on their way here right now, coming to save your sorry butt. Once I get the drop on them, the kid will be all mine."

"Why do you want him anyway?", he then asks.

"Do I really need a reason?", Cherry asks him.

"It would help!", Greg tells her.

"Hmm...I guess I just see a little bit of myself in that kid.", Cherry tells him. But Greg felt when she said, telling her, "That hurts, you know that? Because you said the exact same thing about me!"

"Oh, Greg...", Cherry went on. "You failed me. He won't. I got a good feeling about him."

"Oh, for gosh's sake. Cherry, it's not too late!", Greg said. "You can stop all this insanity."

"It's been too late...for far too long.", Cherry says. "...I'm locking you in here. When the time comes, I'll let you go."

And with that said, Cherry turns her back on him and walks out, shutting and locking the door behind him...

"Cherry, please don't do this.", Greg says.


	19. Chapter 19: Operation Save Greg

Moving through the woods at this very moment, the group was being lead by Carol, heading straight towards Cherry's new hideout as of this moment. Back at the club, Lincoln, Lyberti and Rex were helping to guide them through the woods to the right place...

"Are we still heading the right way?", Carol asked through her phone.

Lyberti told her through her phone, "Yeah, just keeping the way you're going, and once you're there, get into position as fast as you can."

"Got it.", Carol said. "We'll have Greg back in no time."

Little did they know that they were being watched, not just from the cameras Rex had set up, but from Cherry's goon. Not long after, they finally arrived at Cherry's new hideout, seeing how it was not too different than the last one. Everyone scattered, heading towards their assigned positions: Ronnie Anne, Parvana and Shannon head to the front door, Miguel, Mandee and Jackie managed to find a latter heading up to the roof, Girl Jordan and Mollie search around the sides for any extra entrances and Carol and Renee managed to find an air vent heading inside...

"Alright, here goes nothing.", she tells Dana, Carlota and Fiona.

"Let's do this.", Dana says.

Renee says to Kat, "Hold on to your hair."

"Right.", Kat says, unamused.

The girls started to head into the vents one at a time. Renee went ahead of Kat, but with Carol's group, she went first, then Dana, but when it was Carlota's turn, her hips end up getting stuck. And Fiona, who was behind Carlota, just couldn't believe it.

"You have got to be kidding me!", said Carlota, was desperately trying to shake her way out of the vent. From where Fiona was standing, seeing Carlota shake her butt while trying to get out was a bit funny...

"Okay, this might be my fault.", Fiona said, trying not to laugh.

"You think?!", Carlota yelled out. "Just get me out!"

"We have to go in though.", stated Fiona. "Sit tight, Carlota. This might take a while."

Carlota went, "Wait, what are you- EEP!", as she felt that Fiona was trying to push her further into the vent by the butt. It was something that Fiona wasn't very comfortable with herself either, but she didn't see any other choices...

"What happened to losing all those extra pounds?", she asked Fiona.

"Just shut up before I kick you!", yelled Carlota.

Meanwhile, with Ronnie Anne's group, they were trying to open the door, but it was locked pretty tight...

"Perhaps I can try something.", Parvana said moving towards the lock and getting something from beneath her hijab. It looked to have been hair pin which she then jammed into the lock mechanism...

"You know how to pick locks?", asked Shannon.

"No, but works in movies."

"Why do you carry hairpins with you?", Ronnie Anne asked her.

"They help keep my hair in place.", Parvana explained.

After a minute, no progress was made. And Parvana was beginning grow frustrated...

Ronnie Anne spoke up saying, "Uh, let me try something."

"What do you have in mind?", Parvana asked.

Ronnie Anne asked, "I'll use the window."

"I don't think you can fit through there.", said Parvana.

"I know.", Ronnie Anne said, holding up a rock. "Heads up."

Without a second warning, Ronnie Anne waiting for Parvana to get out of the way so that she can throw the through the window, thus smashing it. Then, she sticks her hand through and finds the lock, getting the door unlocked...

"You could've been more specific.", Parvana said, unamused.

"Where's the fun in that?", asked Ronnie Anne.

On the roof, Miguel, Mandee and Jackie had gotten up there and were now looking for a way to get inside. Mandee and Jackie were kind of suspecting Miguel to feel a little uneasy from being so high off the ground at this moment...

"Hey, Miguel.", said Mandee. "You feeling okay right now?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?", he says to them."

"Just making sure you're okay.", Mandee said.

"We know how you're afraid of heights.", Jackie said.

"Well, I'm putting that fear aside for now.", Miguel said. "Besides, we're not even that high up."

Mandee replied, "I don't know. It looks just as high as the water tower you were on."

"Not even.", Miguel said. "And don't even try to tease me. I remember how you girls are afraid of haircuts."

"Bad haircuts!", Mandee defended. "And can you blame us? You've seen how awful they looked on us."

"I don't know.", said Jackie. "I kinda liked the Fingerwave style."

"I may have worked for you, but I wasn't able to look in a mirror without it cracking! For two weeks!", Mandee yelled.

"Yeah, yeah.", Miguel said before finding a hatch. "Hey, through here! There's a hatch."

"Nice work.", said Jackie. "Let's head down.", With nothing else said, the three of them decide to head down the hatch, that had a built in latter, so they could climb down safely. Mandee's hair was a bit big for the space around the hatch, feeling how it brushed against the side of the opening. As she made inside, she combed her hair with her fingers, making sure it was fixed.

To where Girl Jordan and Mollie were, they were at opposite sides of the building, looking for a way inside. Mollie's side was just nothing but wall, but Jordan's had a side door...that was locked...as she noticed unpleasantly...

"Oh man.", she said, seeing Mollie come over to her side.

"Nice. You found it.", said Mollie. "Can we get in?"

Girl Jordan replied, "No, it's locked. I can try to lock pick it, but that's not something I'm good at."

"I'll tell Lincoln that we got into a problem.", Mollie said, getting out her phone, She was calling Lincoln, hoping that he might have some way to help.

"Hello?", Lincoln said, answering his phone.

"Lincoln, it's Mollie. Me and Jordan ran into...a little problem.", she said, watching Girl Jordan grow frustrated, trying to pry off the door and wanting punch through it. Except, it was metal, so it hurt like crazy. "We're gonna need some help."

"Do we even know anybody who can pick locks?", Lincoln asked Lyberti and Rex, to which they shrugged, having no idea themselves. But soon enough, Sam and Mazzy had shown up, seeing that the club was pretty empty...

"Where is everybody?", Sam asked.

"Uh...it's a bit of a long story.", said Lincoln. "Don't mind me asking: Can either of you girls pick locks?"

Both of the girls looked at Lincoln, and then at themselves with confusion. A little while later, they found themselves picking the lock of the side door, having better luck than Girl Jordan and Mollie as Mazzy seemed to be pretty good at this. It wasn't long before she managed to get the door open...

"There we go.", Mazzy said, getting back to her feet.

"How'd you learn to do that?", Mollie asks.

"Uh...I'd rather not go there.", Mazzy says, avoiding the question. And with that, they head on in.

Meanwhile, to where Carlota and Fiona are, they were reaching the end of the vent to meet up with the others. Wasn't exactly or fast, considering Fiona had make sure that Carlota didn't get stuck again. Unfortunately though, she ends up getting stuck upon reaching the other side...

"Oh, come on!", Carlota complained. "Get me out of here!"

"Relax, Carlota. Just one more time. That's all.", said Fiona as she began to push Carlota through. Carlota was helping out by trying to pull herself lose, shaking and starting to freak out.

"I knew this was a lousy idea.", she growled as struggled to pull herself free.

"Yeah, yeah.", Fiona said. "Just shut up and pull!"

Soon enough, Carlota just popped out of the vent, giving her a chance to stretch as Fiona soon came out. Neither of them were looking very happy.

"If I ever have to go inside another vent, it'll be too soon.", said Carlota, cracking her back.

Fiona replied, "Well, I wasn't too fond of the view from my side, you know!"

"Oh, yeah! Like I haven't heard that one before!", Carlota argued. "It could've been worse, you know!"

"Oh, really? How could've it been worse?", asked Fiona right before she could swooped up in something. It seems as if she had gotten herself caught in a net trap.

"That's how.", said Carlota, beginning to grow scared.

To where Miguel, Mandee and Jackie, they were walking through the second floor, hoping to find some way to head downstairs. Mandee was continuing to comb her hair with her hand, wondering if anything got caught in it...

"Hey, Jackie? Can you see if there's anything in my hair?", she asked her friend. "I think something may have been caught while we were heading in."

"Sure, let me have a look.", Jackie replied, now looking through her friend's hair. "Let's see...rust, lint...what I'm hoping is not a giant dust mite..."

Miguel interrupted them, "Guys, please stay focused. We need to head downstairs and make that no surprise are waiting for us."

However, as he continued to walk, some got him from above and made him all to the ground, it was a net that was holding him in place, so he could barely move...

"You mean like that?", asked Jackie.

"Yep.", Miguel sighed.

"Hold on. We'll get you out of there.", said Mandee as the two start to work through the net.

But then, a voice from out of nowhere said to them, "Yeah... that's not happening."

Mandee and Jackie looked around to see where that voice came from, only for Jackie to see a metal object towards her and then her vision went white. It was Joshua, and he hit Jackie across the face with his baseball bat.

"Jackie!", Mandee yelled out, before receiving the same treatment, getting knocked out cold.

"Too easy.", Joshua said to himself, fiddling with his bat while looking down at the captured teens.

Heading back to the front entrance, Ronnie Anne, Shannon and Parvana were looking around and saw that the place was pretty bland and dark. Not to mention old, rusty and gross...

"Seems to be no different from Cherry's Old hideout.", Shannon said.

"Do you know where to go?", asked Ronnie Anne.

"I was only in here for a brief moment.", said Shannon. "But I think I can-AAAHHHHH!"

"What is it?! What's wrong?!", asked Parvana.

"There's mice all over the floor!", yelled Shannon, pointing to the floor.

The two other girls looked to see and Shannon was right, mice were all over the place, scurrying across the floor, around their feet and even climbing up the walls. Shannon and Parvana were a little freaked out by this, but Ronnie Anne was keeping a cool head about it. She only thought kind of a little gross for all these mice to be here...

"Guys, calm down! They're just mice!", Ronnie Anne yelled.

But then, she felt something land on top of her head, and reached to find spiders in her hair. She and the others begin to shake and claw at their heads, taking out any spiders that were even about to land...

"Okay. When did this place start to become a haunted house?!", Ronnie Anne yelled out.

"This place is disgusting!", said Parvana, removing her hijab and flocking out any spiders on it.

Shannon was still freaking out as she scream, "I can't take it anymore! I get out of here!", and she then ran in the opposite direction of the entrance...

"Wait, don't go that way-!", Ronnie Anne tried to warn, as Shannon then tripped and landed in a pile of mousetraps scattered all across the floor.

She had mousetraps everywhere, on her fingers, legs, on her sweater, on her nose, in her hair. The two other girls winced, seeing that she was quite some pain...

"Shannon?", Parvana asked. "You okay?"

"Not really.", she answered. "I just got snapped and cracked."

"Oh, brother.", Ronnie Anne sighed. "Parvana, would you mind helping her out of that?"

Parvana then asked, "What shall you be doing?"

"I'll keep watch in case anyone is expecting us.", Ronnie Anne said, standing by the door.

"Alright then.", said Parvana, turning towards Shannon. "Let's see if I can get you out of this."

And with that, Ronnie Anne looked around the place while listening to Shannon go, "Ow! Ow! Ow!", as the mousetraps painfully come off one at a time.

Meanwhile, with Girl Jordan's group, they were busy looking around, wondering where to head next...

"Anybody got any clue where we are?", asked Mazzy?, "Because I'm completely turned around right now."

"Nope.", said Sam.

"Got me.", said Jordan.

"No idea.", said Mollie.

Little did they know that they were being watched right now, for someone was circling around them at the moment. Soon enough, some was behind Mollie, about to throw a bottle at her, until Jordan noticed and pushed Mollie out of the way as the bottle came smashing on the ground. This lead everyone to turn their attention towards the figures in the shadows...

"Have a drink, ladies.", said a male voice.

"Stay a little while.", a female voice said. "It might be fun."

Coming out from the shadows, it was Frank and Margaret, armed with their own weapons. Margaret having a short sword with her and Frank having a sledgehammer on him...

"Came here looking for the kid, huh?", said Frank. "You can forget it though. 'Cause you're not leaving here in one piece."

"We can say the same about you.", said Girl Jordan confidentiality, right before her confirm went down with Frank slamming his hammer into a crater right in front of her.

"Jordan, Mollie, get behind us!", said Sam, having the two younger girls get behind both her and Mazzy. She then picks up a wrench and clutches it in her hand.

"Let us handle this one.", said Mazzy, grabbing a lead pipe from off the ground.

"Hmph. You girls got some guts.", remarked Margaret. "Let's see what they're made of."

"Let's rock and roll!", said Sam as the four of them charged at each other.

Somewhere in the center of the warehouse, Carol and Dana managed to another door. Looking through the window, they saw that Greg was in there, chained to a bed and asleep...

"Greg!", exclaimed Carol, then facing Dana. "We gotta get him out of here."

Unable to open the door, Dana said, "We need a key, it's locked!"

"You won't be needing anything.", a girl from behind them said.

They turned around and saw Cherry strutting at them with spear in hand, smiling evilly.

"I've been waiting for this!", she says to them. "Now, we finish what we start."

"Guess there's no point in trying to talk things over, huh?", said Carol. "Figures."

"Never was any point in trying.", said Cherry. "I'm in too deep and you know it."

"Well, looks like we're doing this the hard way.", sighed Dana.

Cherry replied, "You got that right.", taking her spear and a stance against the two.

"Uh, Carol? You got this one? Good, thanks.", said Dana hurriedly, not wanting to fight a psycho chick. "I'll...try to get the door open."

Carol looked unamused as she turns back towards Cherry, who then takes out a knife from behind her...

"I guess we should keep it even.", she said, before tossing the knife at Carol's feet. Carol picks up then knife and clutches onto it tightly, pointing it towards Cherry as both girls stare deep into each other's eyes...

"Okay...", Cherry said. "Let's dance!"

But, just as the two were about to lunge at each other, something came from above and landed on top of Cherry, knocking her to the floor. Leaving both Carol and Dana wide-eyed, the both saw that it was Kat and Renee, who were now on top of a dazed Cherry.

"Kat? Renee?", Carol asked.

"Heeeeeey.", said Renee."

And then Kat said, "What did we miss?"

"It's a long story.", said Carol...


	20. Chapter 20: Operation Save Greg 2

At the moment, Kat and Renee landed on top of Cherry, leaving her dazed that pulled themselves up and dusted themselves clean. All the while, Carol and Dana stood, waiting for an explanation...

"So, what happened to you guys?", she asked them.

"Well, we WERE following you through the ducts.", Renee stated. "But somehow, we ended up separated, so Kat and I had to go through a maze of air ducts.

* * *

Flashing back to that moment, we find Kat and Renee slowly crawling through the air ducts. They had ended up going a different path, separate from the rest of the group and were now lost, wanting to find a way out.

"Kat! Renee!", Carol called out to them, hoping they would hear here. But it didn't seem to be doing her any good, as her voice just seemed to echo off every wall in the ducts.

"Yeah, I don't think they're coming back." said Dana.

"Then we'll just have to wait and hope to find them again later.", said Carol as they continued through the vents.

It was really hard, having little to no light, wanting to not bump into each other or to any walls and Kat wasn't making things any easier, crawling with only one hand, using the other hand hold onto her hair so that it doesn't get caught in anything...

"Could you be any slower, Kat?", said Renee.

"Drop it, Renee.", said Kat. "And back, I think we're going the wrong way!"

"The get your butt out of my face!", said Renee.

"I said drop it!", Kat said, right before a vent below them opened on it's own. That's how they need up falling from the ceiling, because they were in the ducts above what was happening right now.

* * *

"And that's pretty much it.", finished Renee.

"Well, thanks for dropping in at the nick of time.", said Carol.

"Funny.", Kat said blankly.

Carol also said, "And sorry we got separated. I was hoping to see that you guys were alright."

"It's cool.", said Renee. "I'm just glad to have Kat's butt out of my face."

"Oh, give it a rest, Renee!", screamed Kat. "It's not even that big!"

"I never said it was.", Renee remarked with a smirk.

Kat turned red while growling at Renee, while Carol tried to hold in her laughter.

"Well, since you guys are here, you mind helping me with the door?", Dana called out. "Let's just grab Greg and the others and get out of here!"

But soon enough, Cherry from the ground, looking angry, saying "You're not going anywhere!"

Suddenly, Cherry uses her spear as a pole vault and launches herself at the group, kicking Carol against the wall, knocking her down. Then she turns her attention towards the others, taking her weapon and spinning crazily as she tries to cut their heads off. Kat, Renee and Dana scatter across the room, hoping to find anything the could use to fight against. Renee found a a lead pipe and was about to fight back, but Cherry merely cut the pole in half and was about to do the same with Renee. However, Carol managed to get back on her feet and was now running towards Cherry. She threw the knife at her, only for Cherry to repel it as Carol then grabs hold of the spear, wanting to pry it from her hands. But then Cherry kicked her down to the ground, getting ready to finish her off.

"Let's try this again!", Cherry says, raising her blade.

Fortunately, Renee jumps on top Cherry and starts to try and clobber her. This forced Cherry to drop her spear as she then takes hold of Renee, throws her and slams her into a crate, leaving her unconscious. As she turns to get her spear, she then got hit by a rock, turning towards Dana who threw it. Growing angry, she grabs her weapon and charges at the girl and thrusts her blade. Dodging as quickly as she could, Dana hits the ground before the blade had hit her. But she did feel the blade hit something, seeing what looked like a chunk of her hair now on the ground. Cherry had managed to cut Dana's ponytail in half.

"My hair! You cut my hair!", yelled Dana. "You little-"

Before you could finish, Cherry smacks Dana in the face. She brings Dana to her feet and then uses the blunt end of her spear to take her down, hitting her across the face. She then drags her spear across the floor, heading straight for Carol who was struggling to recover. She saw the psycho chick towering over him, with a sadistic smile on her face as she raised her weapon above her head...

"Let's get this over with!", she said, ready to finish Carol off.

But then, Cherry got hit in the back of the head. Soon dropping her weapon, she falls to the ground, revealing that it was Kat who hit her...

"Couldn't agree more.", panted Kat, clutching a wooden board in her hands.

* * *

Meanwhile, Carlota was trying to get Fiona down from the net, but she wasn't making it easy since she wouldn't stop moving. She managed to find a knife and was cutting away at the rope of the net...

"You know, I still can't believe how easily you got yourself into this mess!", yelled Carlota to Fiona.

"Hey, why not let your hips grow bigger?", said Fiona. "Maybe someday, we'll call it even!"

Unamused by that statement, Carlota finishes cutting through the rope and decides to let it go and have Fiona fall to the ground. It wasn't a soft landing as Fiona groaned in pain, but soon was beginning to shake herself out. Carlota helps out a little, finding the opening for her to wiggle out of...

"Now that we've wasted so much time on that...", said Carlota. "Can we please go look for the others?"

But soon enough, a blade is launched near them, landed in the wall as Margaret walks in with an evil smile on her face and her small sword in hand.

"Mind if I help out with that?", she asked the two girls, who's fear was starting to rise. "You two are coming with me."

"N-Not in this life or the next!", said Fiona, taking the net she just got out of an throws it at Margaret. But the latter had sliced the net in half with her sword.

"Now, any other stunts you two wanna pull?", Margaret asked.

"You think this'll be easy?", said Carlota. "I mean...there's two of us."

"I'd say the odds are in my favor then.", said Margaret, putting away her sword and taking a stance.

Seeing no other choice. Carlota and Fiona charge at Margaret, who leaps in between them, dodging their attack. She then turns towards them again, beginning to take the offensive with some kicks that are coming in fast. Carlota and Fiona took a few to the head, making them back off and feel dazed as Margaret grabs Fiona and slams her to the ground. Deciding to retaliate, Carlota runs over to Margaret again, ready to get her. But she ends up tripping over her own feet and was now spinning uncontrollably. Just as Margaret was about to turn attention over to Carlota, she sees the girl spinning out of control and she ends up getting whacked by Carlota's hips. This ends up making crashing against the wall and leaving Carlota surprised...

"Whoa...", Carlota said. "I guess all the exercise is paying off."

Decided to try that move again, Carlota is feeling proud of herself as she goes in for a hip swing. Buy this time, Margaret anticipates that and counter it rather quickly, grabbing Carlota and flipping her.

"That was pretty good.", said Margaret, picking herself up. "But let's see you handle this!"

Charging at Carlota, Margaret jumps and does a flying kick at her, sending Carlota at the wall. With ridiculous strength, the kick was enough to have Carlota make a crater in the wall. She was left dazed and hurt as she fell to the floor.

"Too easy.", said Margaret, smirking at her victory.

* * *

To where Sam's group was, she was busy fighting Frank with crowbar in hand, seeming to not be holding anything back. Mazzy was knocked out by Margaret, so Sam was fighting more angrily now, and she still had Girl Jordan and Mollie by her side, so it seemed to that the odds were in their favor. Girl Jordan had found herself a Hockey Stick to fight with, while Mollie got herself a wooden plank. Frank wasn't making it easy for them, though, leaving all three of the girls with cuts and bruises. But they were starting to give him a run for his money, as Frank wasn't looking too good himself. Pretty soon, they managed to back off each other...

"You're all some pretty good fighters.", Frank said while spitting out blood. "Hate to see all those pretty faces ruined. Just like your little friend here."

He pointed towards the out cold Mazzy, showing that her nose was bleeding, possibly broken from Margaret knocked her out. That moment kept replaying in Sam's had, making her angry and clenching onto the crowbar so tightly, it even start to bend in her hand...

"There's plenty pretty faces out there, though.", said Frank. "I've broken plenty before. Yours will be no different."

Sam spoke up, saying, "I'm gonna leave your smug face of your as a bloody crater!"

"I'd like to that!", laughed Frank as he goes in for another attack.

The three girls had spread out across the room, having a trick up their sleeves. While Sam fended off against Frank, Jordan and Mollie devise a plan to get behind him and Finally take him down. Frank was seeming to get the upper hand, but then Girl Jordan takes her hockey stick and puts it between Frank's feet. She then yanks it and makes him trip. As he falls to his knees, Mollies comes in and smashes the wooden plank over his head. Then Sam finishes him off by rapidly hitting him across the face with her crowbar. She stopped as soon as she saw blood beginning to seep out of his mouth and then he fell backwards.

"Thank goodness that's over and done with.", said Sam dropping the bloody crowbar.

"Yeah. Now let's check up on Mazzy.", said Girl Jordan. Then the three rush over to their unconstitutional friend. She was starting to come to as they approached her...

"Hey.", Sam says. "Mazzy, you alright?"

"Ugh...did we win?", Mazzy asked.

Mollie replied, "Yeah, we won. Now, let's get out of here.

But suddenly, they heard a huge crash not too far from where they are.

"What was that?", asked Mazzy.

"... Let's go find out.", said Sam

* * *

Meanwhile...again, Ronnie Anne and Parvana were just about finished getting Shannon out of all the mouse traps she had gotten herself into. There was were still a few in her hair which seemed to be even harder for them to get out of...

"This is turning out to be one of the worst days of my life.", said Shannon.

"It's okay. We managed to get most of them.", said Ronnie Anne. "Now, come on. Let's see if we can find anything.*

But it was then that they heard what sounded like a large crash as well, and looked over to one of the hallways, seeing something coming their way. To their shock, they saw Margaret dragging an unconscious Carlota and Fiona with her. She seemed to be struggling as both girls seem to be really heavy, especially Carlota. But she soon paused as she saw the other three girls in front of her, who were looking a little bit peeved at her. Not that she care, since she thought she could easily take care of them as well.

"Oh, look at this.", she said. "More garbage I need to take out."

"What the heck did you with our friends?", scream Ronnie Anne, getting angrier by the second.

"Same I'm gonna do to you if you don't be good girls and leave now.", threatened Margaret.

"Not gonna happen.", said Shannon.

"Well, then...", Margaret started to say as she took out her sword. "I guess-"

Before she could continue, Ronnie Anne jumped on her and began to beat her up. Shannon and Parvana were wide-eyed to see that Ronnie Anne was able to show such violence. They started to to wince as Ronnie Anne was showing such brutality that was "Too violent to describe". Soon enough, she was on Margaret's back, who looked like she just lost a fight with a crazed bear. Ronnie Anne had her in a headlock, and was beginning to strangle her. Margaret tried hitting Ronnie Anne's arm, but it didn't work as she fell to ground, gasping for air. Pretty soon, she just passed out and Ronnie Anne stood on top of her, breathing heavily...

"Well...", Ronnie Anne said. "That was refreshing."

"Wow, Ronnie Anne.", said Shannon, still surprised. "Who knew you had that in you?"

"Honestly, I didn't even know myself.", said Ronnie Anne, before turning to Carlota Fiona. "Come on, let's see if they're okay."

Checking up on the two, seeing that they were still out cold. They looked pretty beat and the dust on Carlota might explain where the crash came from. Figuring that they were not gonna wake up anytime soon, Ronnie Anne decides that they best solution at the moment was to carry them. She struggles as she grabs her cousins and puts her head over her shoulder...

"Uh, Ronnie Anne?", said Parvana. "What are you doing?"

"Well, they're still awake, so I figured that this may be the best solution.", Ronnie Anne explained as she then tried to walk while carrying Carlota. But, she could barely move as the weight of her cousin was pushing her down.

"How is she this heavy?", asked Ronnie Anne, straining to even stand. "All that working out for nothing."

She tried to take one more step, but then ends up tripping and falling down, with the limp Carlota on top of her. She tried to get up, but that she couldn't move. Shannon and Parvana were finding this a little bit funny...

"A little help?", Ronnie Anne called out.

* * *

Back to Carol's group, we find them working on the lock which seemed to be taken a long time. But Dana was doing her best, although Kat was getting tempted to try and break the door down...

"How long do you think this is gonna take?", Kat said impatiently.

"Would you relax?", said Dana. "I never had to do this before?"

"Yeah, pretty sure none of us had to.", said Carol. "But it's only a matter of time until she recovers.", pointing towards Cherry on the ground, who seemed to be groaning in pain.

"You're just gonna have to give me a little bit more time!", said Dana.

And it was then that Cherry's eyes began to open once more. She tried reaching for her spear, but found it missing. Raising her head, she saw that Carol was clutching onto her spear. Getting angry, Cherry rose up and saw a machete that was hanging on the wall. She smiled as she took the blade and faced the group once more, who looked terrified to see that she still had some fight in her...

"You guys are really starting to be a pain.", she said with murderous intention...

Carol looked at her straight on with a angry look on her face, saying "Likewise..."

And suddenly, Carol charges at the psycho chick, grabbing onto her and they both go smashing through a door behind them. They were outside the room they were in, showing to be on the second floor of Cherry's hideout. Below them were Ronnie Anne's group, who was watching everything from where they stood. They watched as Cherry relentlessly swung her machete at Carol, trying to cut her, but Carol had the spear on her now, blocking as many attacks as he could. But the machete soon had cut away at the handle, chopping the spear in two once again, but that didn't change anything. Carol kicked Cherry the ground, making her drop her machete. She then returns the favor, kicking Carol away, getting back on her feet. She then takes Carol and throws her over the side, making her all to the second floor; dropping down after her, Cherry was ready to finish the job...

"Oh, no, you don't!", Ronnie Anne says, charging at Cherry.

"Back off!", Cherry says, landing a roundhouse kick on the girls, sending her rolling backwards. Shannon and Parvana were a little bit terrified to do something...

"You girls wanna give it a go?", Cherry said mockingly.

"We gotta do something!", Shannon told Parvana.

Cherry told the two of them, "How about you stay out of this?"

Running straight at the two, Cherry jumped and kicked both of them to the ground. Then, she turns her attention back towards Carol, who was struggling to get up. She forced Carol back to the ground and placed both of her hands around her neck, her grip slowly getting tighter and tighter. Carol was gasping for air and her eyes were beginning to roll back into her head and she was about to pass out, and Cherry was smiling crazily as she could feel Carol's life was short to end.

BONK!

Carol's heard what sounded like a baseball bat hitting someone across the head. She opens her eyes and sees that Cherry now lays out cold in front of her, with her head seeming to be bleeding a little.

"Never did liked that crazy girl anyway."

Carol froze after hearing that familiar voice. She turned around to see...Lori. She was wearing a navy blue jacket over her normal clothes, had a baseball bat resting on her shoulder and had a pretty blank expression on her face. she offered a hand and helped Carol get back on her feet. Carol herself wasn't sure whether or not to be relieved or concerned..

"Lori?", she then spoke up. "How did you-?"

"Lincoln told me.", Lori said straight away.

"So, you figured it out huh?", Carol said, beginning to almost feel ashamed.

"I literally got a whole bunch of questions I want to ask you.", Lori said. "...But, we'll talk later."

Just then, they heard what sounded like a door unlock, rather loudly by the sound of it. Walking out of the room that Carol and Cherry just fought were Kat, Renee and Dana who had Greg resting on her shoulder...

"Finally got him out!", yelled out Dana.

"Hey, everyone.", Greg said drowsily. "Thanks for coming back."

"So that's Greg, huh?", asked Lori, nodding her head. "He seems like an okay guy."

Carol replied, "Yeah. Now we just need to get everyone else and we're out of here."

"Let's do it then.", said Lori.

"I don't think so."

Just then, jumping from the second floor was Joshua, holding a baton in his hand and blocking their exit...

"No one's leaving here without a fight.", he said, pointing his weapon towards everyone.

"Here we go again.", Carol says as she steps forward, but Lori stops her with the bat.

"Hang back for a little while, Carol.", Lori says. "You need time to recover. I got this goon."

"But, Lori, he'll kill you.", Carol warned her.

"Not if I kill him first.", Lori said, giving Carol a wink.

Seeing how Lori was determined to see this through, Carol stepped back and went with everyone else to find who remained missing. This left Lori and Joshua alone as the circled each other...

"You got some guts, girl.", Joshua said. "Maybe I'll see what they look like."

Lori said to him, "You sound pretty murderous for a hired thug."

"Hmph. Yeah, but I'm not paid yet.", said Joshua. "And that's pissed me off. Frankly, I would care less about what that chick Cherry was gonna do with the little white-haired freak, I just wanted the job over and done with."

"So much for you're little three way split then.", Lori said.

"Three way split?", Joshua asked before chuckling a little. "I would've offed the other two the second we got paid. I'd care less about anyone I work with. I'm only looking out for number one.", he points to himself.

"Wow.", Lori said. "A heartless jerk who has no regard for other human life and does anything to get the job done and to look after himself. Who would've guess?"

And then...they fought. Joshua threw the first hits, managing to knock Lori down to the floor. But she managed to get back on her feet really fast and starts to run around Joshua, trying to land a hit at any chance she's got. She could tell Joshua was a skilled fighter, being quick on his feet and not hesitant to hit back, and he was tough too, very tough, blocking with his arms and making it look like the baseball bat was barely grazing him. But she wasn't holding back. She was giving all of it to him, hoping to take him down with every next swing. She didn't stop moving either, knowing that if she did, she'd be on the ground again. But soon, they backed off each other, and Lori could tell that Joshua was preparing something...

"...Time to stop holding back.", he said, rolling his shoulder.

He soon charges straight at Lori, going in with full force. He grabs onto her and throws her to the ground. There, he begins rapidly punching as she desperately tries to block his attacks. She lost her bat and was being left defenseless. Pretty soon, he had his hand at her head, forcing it down in an attempt to crush her skull. But Lori saw the machete Cherry was using and reaches for it. She struggled to even get closer to it, and he saw what she was going for and then, he made his mistake. Deciding to go for the machete before she could, Joshua accidentally made Lori get closer, allowing her to grab hold of the machete and take a hit at him. She managed to get him across the face, leaving a huge bleeding cut across it. He looked at Lori with a sadistic smile, while she looked at him with a horrified expression...

"Now, we're getting somewhere.", he said crazily.

"What the heck is wrong with this guy?", Lori said to himself.

Again he charges at Lori, but this time, she managed to dodge at cut him at his side. His attacks were just coming in widely, now acting crazy as he tries to kill Lori. But Lori was doing more sufficient damage, practically covering the dude in cuts now. The fight was ending and Joshua looked like he could barely stand on his too feet right now. His blood was dripping to the floor and Lori was growing nauseous, making her drop the machete...

"W-What's you problem anyway?", she asks him.

"Everybody got what's theirs.", Joshua said, leaving Lori confused by what he meant. "Everybody gets what's theirs! I wanted it to be my time!"

"Well, you're right about one thing.", Lori said.

"What's that?", he asked.

"It is your time.", Lori told him, looking up.

It was then that Joshua looked up and the last thing he saw was the bottom of a huge wooden crate coming down on him. Lori looked away as the crate crushed the thug, and waved over at Carol, who happened to be the one who dropped the crate. Carol came back down to the first floor to see how Lori was doing...

"You were looking pretty good out there.", Carol said.

Lori replied, "Thanks, Carol. But...", she then looks at the broken crate, seeing a puddle of blood begin to appear. "Does this mean we've just killed that dude?"

"Uhh...", Carol said, looking at the crate. "We'll...take this to our grave."

"Hey guys! Up here!", said Kat. Both girls looked up to see Kat with the others. They had managed to find Miguel, Mandee Jackie, who weren't exactly looking to good themselves. They looked like they were beaten up, strung up by their feet and left like that for a while.

"We found them hanging by their feet!", Dana said. "They're gonna be okay though!"

"I also managed to find Dana's ponytail.", Kat said, holding up the piece of hair Cherry snipped off Dana's head. "Uh, Dana. Do you still want this?"

Without a word, Dana snatched it from Kat's hands and began to walk away, mumbling something to herself.

"I'm gonna have to wear extensions for a week."

"Well, looks like everyone's accounted for.", Carol said. "Let's get out of here."

"Couldn't agree with you more.", said Lori.

And with that, they grabbed everyone who couldn't be able to walk by themselves at this point and headed out of the Hideout. As they were leaving, Cherry was struggling to get up, barely able to left their arms as she saw the blurry vision of everyone leaving...

"I will get you guys...", she said quietly. "One way...or another...", and then, she passes out once more.

* * *

Back at the Club, the three who were there were waiting for any sort of feedback from the group. It's been quite for a while, they hoped the group was alright. But then, the club doors opened and they saw everyone coming inside. Lyberti, Rex and Lincoln winced in discomfort seeing how beat up some of them were.

"Is there any place where we can put these guys?", Dana asked?"

"Uh...yeah.", Lyberti answered. "You can take them to the backroom."

"We have a backroom?", asked the weak Miguel."

"Over there.", Lyberti said, pointing to her left.

As the others got the injured situated, Lori had come up and saw her brother after what had felt like a long time. Lincoln wasn't surprised to see her here; he did call her after all. Both of them seemed to be having mixed emotions about all this as they faced each other, looking straight into each other's eyes. After a little bit of awkward time, Lincoln had finally said...

"Heeeeeey Lori..."


	21. Chapter 21: We're gonna need a new plan

"Heeeeeey Lori..."

Lincoln broke the silence with that, facing his sister. He was honestly expecting her to be pretty mad for having ran away, but he didn't expect her to have hugged him. She was holding onto him pretty tight, that it almost felt like he couldn't breathe. She didn't seem like she wanted to let go of him, like she wanted to cherish this moment...

"I'm so glad...", Lori said. "I'm so glad to see you again."

"Lori...", Lincoln said. "I-I..."

"I'm sorry, Lincoln.", Lori said to him. "I should've have treated you that way."

Lincoln replied, "Lori, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ran away, but I was upset and I...I just couldn't be around you guys...I didn't want to be a burden."

"You've never been a burden to us, Lincoln.", Lori said. "I'm more of a burden, honestly. I'm just a madhouse most of the time. I nearly lost it when you ran away."

The two look at each other with watery eyes, then continue on hugging...

"It's felt like forever since I last saw you.", Lori said.

"Hey...", Carol said, interrupting the siblings moment. "I just wanted to thank you again for helping us, Lori."

"Of course." , Lori said. "That's literally what friends are for...but, if I may ask...", she them breaks up the moment with Lincoln. "What is all this? What is going on?"

"Lincoln didn't fill you in?", Carol asked.

"Just the stuff you guys needing help.", Lori stated. "Not everything else though."

"Well, Lori...", Lincoln began. "Carol and the others have been protecting me. When I ran away, they took me in and decided that I could stay with them. I didn't know that they were actually protecting me from that psycho chick. And apparently, they were also protecting you guys too."

Lori had let that sunk in for a moment before saying, "Wait, what do you mean protecting us too?"

"If I may...", Carol said. "We had a feeling that Cherry would go after you guys of Lincoln was still around you, and she'd tried to take him by force. So, we made sure that you guys were kept watch of as well."

"I see.", Lori said. "Well, then I guess I owe you big time."

"Don't mention it.", Carol said.

Lori then faces her brother once more, saying, "Lincoln, everyone else is waiting for you. We need to go see them right now!"

"No, Lori, I can't right now.", Lincoln said.

"What do you mean not right now?", Lori asked.

Lincoln replied, "We still need to take care of Cherry."

"Seriously?", Lori asked. "We left that nutbar in the dust back at her hideout."

"Lincoln's right, Lori.", Carol said. "We need to take care of her. She's too dangerous to leave out there."

But, Lori said, "We'd be putting not just Lincoln, but everyone else here in danger!"

"Miss Lori..."

Lori turned around to see Greg coming out of the backroom. It looked like he could barely stand on his own feet, but he made his way over to the teen.

"This is how it must be, Miss Lori.", Greg said. "Cherry too dangerous to be left un-apprehended. We must...take...her down."

"Why can't she just call the police?", Lori asked.

"I've actually tried that before.", Greg explained, starting to roll up his sleeve. "Didn't work out as well as I hoped.", he shows a huge scar across his left arm. Seeing that made everyone wince.

"It might have to take all of us again.", Lincoln said.

"You don't have to help if you want.", Carol told Lori.

"No. I'm not backing out from this.", Lori said. "I just got back with my brother, I'm not letting him out of my sight."

Carol asked her, "So, you're in then?"

Lori didn't say anything until Lincoln asked her.

"Come on, Lori. What'd ya say?"

"...That you're all crazy.", Lori said. "...But let's take that Psycho Chick down."

Everyone seemed to be overjoyed to have Lori on their side. She wasn't completely for it, but she was willing to go along. It was then that Miguel, Mandee and Jackie were beginning to come out of the backroom, looking drowsy and exhausted..

Jackie yawned, saying, "Hey, can you guys keep it down? I've had a long day."

"You guys shouldn't be up right now.", Carol said. "You need to rest."

Miguel spots Lori, then asking, "What's Lori doing here?"

"I called her.", Lincoln answered. "We needed more help than we thought."

"So, I guess the secret's out, huh?", Mandee asked.

"Yep, but I'm on your side. So don't worry.", Lori said.

"Good to hear.", Miguel said.

"How are Carlota and Fiona doing?", Carol asked.

"Still out cold.", Jackie said. "They'll be fine though."

"Hope they wake up soon.", Lincoln. "We still might need everyone again."

Miguel asks, "Why? What are we gonna have to do?"

"We, uh, still need to take care of Cherry.", said Sam.

"You're kidding me.", said Jackie.

"No, it's true.", Carol said. "We can't leave Cherry un-apprehended, it's too dangerous for everyone."

Mandee then said, "You do realize that one of her goons ended up torturing us, right?"

"Don't worry about that.", said Lori. "He's literally nothing but paste at this point."

Jackie began to ask, "Wait, you're saying he's-"

"She did it.", Lori said, pointing towards Carol.

"Hey!", Carol said.

"Okay then.", Miguel said. "I guess that's one less problem to deal with."

"Not exactly.", Greg spoke out. "Because of the death of one of her own, Cherry will most likely a little more extra help from some other friends."

"What are the chances she'll bring an army?", asked Ronnie Anne.

"Pretty high.", said Greg.

"Then...I guess we'll just have to get an army of our own.", said Lincoln

"How are you planning on getting an army?", asked Lori.

Lincoln thought about it for a second before saying, "Can I borrow your phone, Carol?"

"Um...sure.", said Carol, bringing out her phone and handing it over to Lincoln. He begins to dial three numbers and waits as the phone rings. All the while, Carlota had gotten up and headed out of the backroom..

"Hey, everyone.", she said drowsily. "What'd I miss?"

"Hey, Carlota.", Lori said.

Carlota then asked, "Lori? What are you doing here?"

"Lincoln asked for my help with getting Greg back.", Lori explained as her eyes began to motion toward Carlota's hips. "Hey, have you gotten a little more plump, Carlota?"

"You shouldn't really say that to her, Lori.", Fiona said, coming out of the backroom behind Carlota. "She kinda hates it."

"No, no, it's cool. I'm used to it.", said Carlota, now fully awake. "Besides, I'm beginning to find huge hips kind of useful."

"...Good for you, I guess.", said Lori, a little confused...and disturbed.

Meanwhile, at the police station, a phone was ringing and a police officer picked up right away...

"Royal Woods Police Department."

"Hello? This is Lincoln Loud.", Lincoln answered through the phone.

"Loud? Where have I heard that name before?", the officer asked, thinking about for a second. "Oh yeah, I believe you're parents filed in a missing person report about you."

"Good to know.", Lincoln said.

"If you give me your location, I can have a squad car pick you and-"

"Hold on, officer.", Lincoln interrupted. "I need to report a crime."

"Really?", the officer asked. "What crime?"

Lincoln replied, "An attempt of kidnapping and murder. A girl named Cherry Willis has tried to kidnap me and hurting me friends. We need her arrested. She's hiding somewhere within the woods, so it'd be best to set an ambush."

"I've heard of Cherry Willis before.", The cop said. "But why exactly should I believe you, kid?"

"You don't have to.", Lincoln said. "Just take my word for it and we can have Cherry apprehended."

The cop gave into Lincoln's demands saying, "Alright, kid. We'll see what we can do."

And with that, Lincoln hung up, unsure of what he said was enough to get the police to help out. Turning around, he saw Mazzy was up and sitting next to the buffet table. She wasn't looking so awake as Sam, Jordan and Mollie went right next to her...

"How you doing, Mazzy?", Sam asked.

"I'll live.", Mazzy answered. "But everything's kind of fuzzy."

"How many fingers am I holding up?", Jordan asked, holding up her hand.

"Funny.", Mazzy said. "And that's three fingers."

"Well, at least you're brain's still in intact.", said Mollie, before asking Lincoln, "So, who did you just call?"

"The police.", Lincoln said. "I told them to help us set an ambush for Cherry."

"Won't be enough.", Greg said. "Cherry's smart. She won't fall for any tricks so easily."

Carol then said, "Well, we're just gonna have to find a way to bring him out into the open."

"We could use someone as bait.", said Mazzy. "Someone she wants desperately."

"Someone...like Lincoln.", Mollie points out, leaving Lincoln wide-eyed.

"Say what now?", Lincoln said, feeling a little offended.

"Oh no.", Lori said. "There is no way Lincoln is gonna be bait for a psycho chick."

Carol began to tell Lori, "To be fair, Lori, Lincoln is kind of the one Cherry wants."

"I literally don't care!", said Lori. "You said that you'd protect him, and now, you're literally planning to do the opposite."

"I agree with Lori.", Ronnie Anne spoke out. "I mean, it wasn't too long ago when Lincoln kidnapped by Cherry. We don't need that happening again."

Lori nodded her head, saying, "And besides, after we did over at that place, pretty sure Cherry will be coming after all of us."

"Well, we're kind of low on options here.", said Mollie. "As much as I hate to admit it, using Lincoln as bait is...pretty much all we got."

"Yeah, well I'm all against it!", Lori said out loud.

"...Forget it, Lori.", Lincoln spoke out. "I'll go along with it."

"What?", Lori asked. "Lincoln you can't be serious."

"If you got any other options, we're all ears at the moment.", Lincoln said. "But there's no need to endanger any one else."

"He's got a point."

"It's our best chance."

"It's all we got."

"I don't see any other way."

Everyone seemed to be agreeing, all except for Lori. But she sees that they all believe that this plan is their best bet. Giving in, she's leaves herself with one thing to say...

"...We're toast."

* * *

Back at her hideout, Cherry had managed to gather a bunch of punks from Joshua's old gang. Now, at least 20 thugs were at her disposal. As of right though, she was waiting for them to shut up, pacing back and forth on a wooden platform as all the thugs were talking and making noise, arguing amongst themselves, some even looking like they want to fight. Cherry wasn't having any of this as she brings out a Mare's Leg gun and fires it twice up high, managing to get everyone to quiet down and get their attention. Now, she could make her little announcement...

"Alright...", Cherry said. "I brought you all here today for something big. As you have heard, a good friend of ours, Dear Joshua, is dead."

She points outside, to where a wooden cross was sticking from the grown above where Joshua's body was buried. A lot of the thugs couldn't believe it, others were growing angry and clinching their fists, wanting to sink it into something. They began to chatter once more before Cherry fired her gun again, regaining their attention...

"He was a good man, despite being a double crossing, selfish, heartless little pink...", Cherry said. "He didn't deserve to be taken down by the hands of two girly girls. What I say now is that we find them, we hunt them down like a pack of wild animals and drive our blades into their skulls!"

A lot of the thugs were agreeing with that, some of them even beginning to cheer...

"I don't care how long it takes! I just wanna see them taken care of, just as much as the lot of you do! They disrespected me! My sanctuary! They disrespected dear Joshua before throwing him into the ground! We're just returning the favor, now aren't we?"

From where they stood, Frank and Margaret were watching the entire twenty thugs begin to get excited and go wild. They were not believing that Cherry was gonna pull off a plan like this...

"I'm promising y'all some big money if you help me out with this! Help me have those fools left in a ditch, and you're be getting some cash! You'll be getting retribution! And Ol' Joshua's soul will be put to rest! How's with me?!"

The entirety of the crew was now roaring happy, making some noise that can be heard outside. It seemed like Cherry was making a little plan of her own...

* * *

Back at the Loud House, Lynn was heading down to the kitchen to get herself a drink. In the fridge, she only find the milk and decides that it's good enough, so she takes it out and then looks for a glass.

"Hey, Lynn."

Hearing the voice of her sister, Lucy, made Lynn freeze in place and squeeze the milk carton until it explodes like a volcano, having milk rain over her head. With that, she lets out a heavy sigh and pours what little milk is left inside the glass as she faces her gothic sister...

"Yes, can I help you, Lucy?", Lynn asks sarcastically.

"I was just wondering if you had any idea where Lori might be.", Lucy says. "She wasn't in her room."

Lynn takes a sip of her milk, replying, "Nope. I haven't seen her for a half hour now."

"Where could she have gone then?", asked Lucy. "It's not like her to just leave."

"I'm sure she'll be back before you know it.", Lynn said.

Lucy wasn't buying it though. She felt that Lynn may not really know where Lori is, but she's getting suspicious of Lori's disappearance. Lucy begins to think of where Lori may have gone too, thinking of every possibility...

"Oh, can I ask you something, Lucy?", Lynn spoke out. "You wouldn't happen to know where my bat is, right?"

"No.", Lucy said. "Did you misplace it?"

"I don't think so.", Lynn said. "But I looked everywhere and I couldn't find it."

"...I might have an idea of who's got it.", said Lucy.

Meanwhile, in Luna's room, she was busy sitting at the edge of Luan's bed, playing some sad music. That is, until she saw something block her version. Brushing it out of the way, it had turned out to be blonde hair, which confused her as she looked up and saw Leni laying on the top punk, with her hair hanging off the edge...

"Leni?", said Luna. "What are you doing in my bed? Heck, what are you even doing in my room?"

"I don't know.", said Leni. "Just lonely, I guess."

"What do you mean?", Luna asked. "Where's Lori?"

"Wish I knew.", Leni said. "I was gonna ask her something, but found that she wasn't in her room. I looked around for a while and I couldn't find her anywhere. And after that, here I am."

Luna saw that her door was wide open. She could've sworn she closed it...

"How'd you get in here without me noticing?", Luna asked her.

"You seemed to be so concentrated on your music.", Leni explained. "So, I just...let myself in."

Luna let that sunk for a second...

"Well...I guess you could stay for now.", she said to Leni. "Just be sure to watch your hair."

"Thanks, Luna.", Leni said. "And...I'm sorry. I'm just...still thinking about Lincoln."

"...Yeah, me too.", Luna said, as she continues to strum her guitar. Leni was listening to the music Luna was making, and it was rather soothing, despite sounding saddening. It would be considered peaceful if didn't express the emotion of sorrow from Luna. Leni had to say something else to her sibling...

"That was pretty good, Luna.", she said. "It was...beautiful even."

Luna stares at her sister, having a small smile grow on her. "Thanks", she said. "I was just dabbling a little."

"So...", Leni said. "How do you think Lincoln's doing?"

"I'm hoping he's doing alright.", Luna said. "I need him right now."

"...Yeah, me too.", Leni agreed on.

* * *

Back to Cherry's hideout, outside, she and her little army were preparing for hunting. She was gearing herself up, along with a pair of twin sisters, who were polar opposites, one being dominate over the other. Kylie, who had should lenght, ombre blue hair, white skin, a black t-shirt with a skull on it, black jeans, dark brown shoes and a tattoo of a angel on her left arm, was a seductive type who looks after her little sister, Taylor, who had a brown pixie cut, white skin as well, wears a glossy violet jacket over with pink shoulder spikes over a neon purple shirt, navy blue shorts, silver boots, gray shades with with purple-pink lenses, a dog collar around her neck and a tattoo of a demon over her left arm, and she was known for being quite the crazy person, but not as crazy as Cherry.

As the three of them armed themselves for their hunt, their attention was drawn over to a couple of other goons who were messing with some of the weapons...

"Should catching one kid be extremely easy?", asked Taylor.

And it was then that one of the thugs set off a grenade launcher and smoke began to appear everywhere.

"It should be.", said Cherry, taking a spear from a table. "But I'm not taking any chances."

"And what do we get out on all this?", Taylor continued to ask her. "'Cause I highly doubt you're gonna really pay us."

Cherry replied, "If you help me out here, you get to keep the weapons as payment."

Taylor thought about it for a second before deciding, "Deal."

"Good.", Cherry said. "Now, how about you go make yourselves useful and those nimrods from doing anything stupid?"

It was then, that one of the thugs climbs into a catapult built for rocks and explosives. It wasn't really something Cherry was planning on using, but z wise-guy thought it best to launch himself as he ends up flying across the room until he crashes onto a table of weapons...

"We'll...teach those boys a lesson.", said Kylie, as she and her sister began to walk away from their leader. With them gone, Cherry tries to have a moment of peace, until she heard an explosion from behind her, caused by another grenade being set off as a singed blade flew passed her head and land onto the wall. Letting out a heavy sigh, she pulled out the blade as she said...

"I'm surrounded by a bunch of idiots."


	22. Chapter 22: Chaos

As of this moment, Lincoln was leading a group with him through the forest...again. He is with Carol, Lori, Dana, Greg and Whitney, and right now, he was talking on the phone with the police, confirming their position for the ambush...

"Yes, it is that warehouse...no, the other one.", Lincoln said. "Yeah, that's the one...okay, we'll be there soon. Thank you, Officer."

"So, how'd it go?", asked Carol.

"They're near Cherry's warehouse already.", Lincoln explained. "We need to hurry. We can't mess this up."

"Finally, we get the chance to take that girl down!", Dana said.

Carol replied, "I know. But I'm having some mixed emotions about it."

"You're not the only one.", said Greg. "But this is what's best for everyone."

"I'm just wondering as to why we needed to bring her.", said Whitney, pointing to Lori.

"Excuse me?", asked Lori.

"I'm just saying." said Whitney. "Just seems kind of pointless of you to come with us to help out."

Then, Lori said to her, "That's funny, because I was thinking the same thing about you, Whitney."

"Were you now?", asked Whitney. "You do realize I'm been helping Lincoln out more than you, right?"

"And you are aware that I'm holding a baseball bat in my hands, right?", said Lori, holding up the bloody baseball bat.

"Would you too relax?", Carol spoke out. "Remember what we're here for. You can kill each other after."

"Fine.", Lori said.

"Whatever.", said Whitney.

"I'd pay a lot of money to see those two go at it.", said Greg, making everyone feel weirded out.

"If you want, you can also kill Greg too.", said Carol.

"Wha-?", said Greg.

Both girls agreed, saying, "Deal!"

"Finally getting the chance to turn someone into a human pretzel.", Lori said.

"Maybe I should've stayed at home.", said Greg.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere near Cherry's hideout, a squadron of police was there, waiting for their chance to strike. They were lead by the cop Lincoln had a talked to before; his name was Officer Jones...

"Alright, everybody.", said Jones. "Remember to stay cool and don't fire until I tell to."

"Man, this is boring.", said a inpatient cop. "We've been waiting for like an hour now. You sure we can trust this kid?"

"Not sure.", said Jones. "But in case you forgot, we've been looking for this Cherry girl for about a half year now. This could be our chance, now shut up."

The cop replied, "Fine. Just getting bored because we haven't seen anybody come out of that place for a while...except them."

Pointing to the right, the cops see Margaret and Taylor and a small mob of goons with them, all armed, like they're going hunting...

"Think they're acquanted with Willis?", said Jones.

"Only one way to find out.", said the impatient cop, going after them.

Jones yelled out to him, saying, "No, wait! Stand down!"

* * *

To where Margaret and Taylor stand, they were busy walking through the woods. Margaret was enjoying the time she has away from Cherry while Taylor was keeping her grip firmly on her weapon, which was a bat with nails in it...

"You know, I really can't thank you enough for doing all this for me.", said Margaret.

"Not a problem at all.", said Taylor. "I get it. It must be tough working for a psycho like Cherry."

"You have no idea", said Margaret. "But you're not too perfectly sane yourself."

"Yeah, but I don't at least obsesses over wanting to find a little boy.", said Taylor.

"You obsessed over Joshua since middle school.", said Margaret.

"Yeah...", said Taylor, a little sad. "I did, didn't I?"

Margaret realized she may have gone to far. She knew that Taylor and Joshua was dating, but they broke it off. Taylor wanted to make things right between him and her, but thanks to the club members, Taylor's never gonna get that chance.

"I struck a nerve, didn't I?", said Margaret sympathetically?. "I'm sorry, Taylor. I-"

"Don't.", said Taylor, gripping her baseball bat. "I'll make things right soon enough."

"Okay then.", said Margaret.

Then Taylor behind her to the goons saying "Right now, I'm just wondering if these nimrods are even smart enough to catch a kid."

"Probably not." said Margaret. "But it's worth a go."

* * *

Back to where Lincoln's group was, they were continuing to walk to Cherry's hideout until the sound of gunfire forced them to hide in the bushes...

"What the heck?", said Lori. "Why am I hearing guns?"

"I'm guessing the cops and Cherry's goon may have already found each other.", said Carol.

"I think they're about to find us too!", said Lincoln, pointing. "Look!"

It was then that a mob of goons was being led by Taylor and Frank down the path. And these guys had a catapult with them.

"A catapult?", said Lori. "Why the heck do they have a catapult?!"

"Welcome to crazy town, Lori.", said Carol.

"All that just to try and capture Lincoln?", asked Whitney.

"I'm pretty sure that's not what it's for.", Lincoln said. "I'm guess Cherry may have known we'd get the police involved.

"I'm gonna...make a short phone call.", Dana said, bringing out her phone. "...Ronnie Anne, we have a bit of a problem."

"Hey do you guys hear something?"

Lincoln's group frozen perfectly still as they feared they've blown their cover as one of the goons ends up hearing them.

* * *

"What do you mean they have a freaking catapult?", yelled Ronnie Anne through a phone without getting another response. "Hello? Hello? Dang it."

"Did you say catapult?", asked Shannon.

Ronnie Anne replied, "Yep! Apparently, Cherry is crazy enough to try and use one of those!"

"That's going way too far!", said Sam.

"I know!", said Ronnie Anne. "What are gonna do now"

"Not much we really can do.", said Shannon.

"Well, maybe we can call the others.", said G. Jordan. "Tell them to watch out for that thing."

"Maybe, we should've thought this through more.", said Ronnie Anne as Girl Jordan began to dial on her cell phone.

* * *

Somewhere in the forest, a third group, consisting of Lyberti, Rex, Parvana, Mazzy, Mollie, Renee, and Kat were busy tailing another mob of goons leading the crazy chick herself, Cherry. They were hiding near some trees as they listened in on some of the goons talking...

"I'm just saying. One little kid is not worth busting my a** over."

"I know, but at least it's easy money. And we also get to keep the gear."

"Where did she even get the cash for this?"

"Don't know. Don't care. I'm so keeping this stuff."

"Wonder what else we can get out of her?"

"Maybe a...decent night off?"'

The thugs laughed at that, but Cherry was ticked...

"YOU DO KNOW I CAN HEAR YOU NUMBSKULLS, RIGHT?!", she screamed at them, making them still and silent. "Just keep up with me and shut up!"

And with that, the goons carried on, while Lyberti's group were cringing behind the trees.

"That. Was. Disgusting.", said Kat.

"Agreed.", said Mollie and Renee.

"Yeah, you kids were not old enough to hear that.", said Mazzy.

"Nevermind that.", said Parvana. "Let's just remember that we are in a world of trouble right now."

"Relax. It's not like they've seen us yet.", said Lyberti. "Besides, we know at this point that things can't get worse."

Just then, Renee got a call from Girl Jordan, who began to explain everything they just heard.

"Jordan says that one of Cherry's mobs has a catapult!", she said, which made everyone feel tense.

"I spoke too soon.", said Lyberti.

"We can worry about that later.", said Parvana. "Right now, we just gotta find a way to take care of that mob."

"How are we gonna do that?", said Mollie.

"I have no idea.", said Parvana.

"Perhaps we should've brought with us.", said Kat.

"We are so not cut out for this.", said Mazzy.

* * *

Meanwhile, back to where we had the cops and Taylor's group, they were going at each other, fighting with their barehands and it appeared to be like the cops were getting the upper hand. But somehow, the punks prove them otherwise, not backing and even managing to work a few cops over. Jones was going for Taylor and Margaret, who were busy cutting down a few of his compatriots...

"I wanted to do this the easy way.", said Jones, picking up a bat. "But I guess not."

"Too bad.", said Taylor. "You brought this upon yourselves."

"At least I can no confirm that the kid's info was right.", said Jones. "Now, tell me. Where's Cherry Willis?"

"Give up the kid and maybe we'll spill.", said Margaret.

"Not a chance.", said Jones."

"Then you'll get nothing from us.", said Taylor. "Except maybe a brutal beat down."

And with that, the three of them lunged at each other. But Jones wasn't prepared for how skilled these two were at fighting, barely able to block any of their attacks, and even got a few nails in his back thanks to Taylor. Things were not looking good for him and his squad...

"Fire in the hole!", yelled one of the thugs as a grenade was thrown at the cops. Boom. Cops were blown away and Jones was horrified for having bared witness it. It was not over for him as he saw the two teenage thugs towering over him with weapons in hand...

"Nighty night, jerk.", said Taylor as she hits him with the back end of her bat.

* * *

Back to where Lincoln's group, they were still hiding from Frank's group, who were searching around for anybody laying around. For a moment, they seemed to be completed invisible, until...

(Tiny fart)

"Crud." said Lori.

"Sniff, sniff...oh gosh, smelled like something died.", said Kylie.

"Yeah. Came from over there.", Frank said as his crew began to rip apart some bushes. Realizing that they just got made, Lincoln's crew stood and were now meeting the wrong end of a gun. Frank was laughing very hard as he savoring this so-called victory...

"Wow.", said Frank. "One just had to have cracked one off. That's pathetic."

Everyone's head turns to Lori who looks down, turning red.

"But I'm really glad you're hear though. I thought we were gonna have to search this whole forest in search of this kid." He points to Lincoln, who glares at him. "So how about we work out a little deal? Hand him over and you all go Scott free."

Lincoln continues to glare at him.

"If you think we're just gonna hand over my brother like that, then you're demented!", screamed Lori.

"Brother?", said Frank before realizing who Lori was. "Oh...I know you. Maybe you heard of my friend Joshua, who was reduced to a stain on the floor thanks to two blonde girls."

Lori and Carol stare at each other, knowing they're responsible.

"He had it coming.", said Carol.

"And now, so do you.", said Kylie. "My sister was actually Joshua's ex. And she's gonna love when I drag to two back to her by your hairs."

"You'll have to catch us first.", said Lincoln. "Split up!"

And then they all ran in different directions, something that Frank's group wasn't prepared for.

"What the heck are all of you standing around for?!", He said. "After them!"

Goons went chasing after them. Lori and Carol went running across some trees when suddenly, Carol's Hari got caught by a low hanging branch...

"Ah! My hair!", she said as some thugs closed in on her.

"End of the line, sweetie!"

But then, the thugs started to get pelted by rocks, as it was Lori who was throwing them. This served as a distraction and gave Carol the chance to free herself. Unfortunately, a small piece of her hair was ripped off and left stuck on the branch as she caught up with Lori.

"My hair is ruined!", she complained.

"Will you forget about it?!", Lori yelled, taking Lori's hand. "We gotta get moving!"

To where Greg and Dana were at, the dodging a few flying objects coming towards them and reaching a pond. But Greg had then tripped on an overgrown root, allowing the thugs to come get him...

"Game over, pal!", said one of thugs, about to grab Greg until his face was met with a rock. Dana came rushing to help save Greg, grabbing a chain wrapped around the guy and beginning to use it as a makeshift chain...

"Back off!", she said, swinging the chain, hitting a few guys in the head, the feet and trying not to hit herself. But the goons were still closing in on her, so Greg decided to make himself and kick a few guys in the shins, bringing them down as he recovers and steals a crowbar from one of them. As the two of them fought, Dana then encounters a brute, a big thug, who was fat and ugly, not to mention mean as he snatches Dana's chain and throws it away...

"Now, just try to hit me!", said the brute, allowing Dana to sucker punch him in the face. Didn't seem to do anything though as he smirks at her. But then, she sees her chance, as there was a grenade on his belt, which he notices as well. Dana quickly pulls the pin on the grenade and moves away as the brute tries to take it off. But then, Dana notices the pond right behind the big guy, and decides to take a leap of fate. And by the, she charges at the brute, leaping and shoving him with her right arm and pushes him into the pond. She then runs away as soon as there is a huge blast coming from the pond. Looking back, she picks herself up and recovers her chain, just as Greg rejoins her, looking a little messed up, but alive.

"Managed to get those guys to back off.", he said. "What about you?"

"I just had a blast.", said Dana, feeling proud of herself.

And to where Whitney and Lincoln are, they were running through some thorn bushes when Whitney's skirt ends up getting caught in one, leaving her stuck...

"Oh, come on!", she said, beginning to pull away.

"Now's really not the time for this!", Lincoln said as he helps Whitney pull. They manage to get her free, but now her skirt's all ruined and show off some leg.

"Well, there goes my dress.", Whitney said unamused. "And my dignity."

Lincoln then tells her, "We can fix all that later. We gotta get going before-"

"Before I show up?"

Both of them turned around to see Frank standing behind them. Looking smug as he takes out his metal bat.

"I'm kind of getting sick of all of you.", he said. "So why not make this quick."

"I don't think so.", said Whitney, running towards Frank and trying to pry the bat out of his hands. But Frank manages to back her off and starts swinging the bat at her. Lincoln tried to help, attempting to leap onto Frank, only to get knocked away. Whitney then rips a branch from the trunk of a tree and smashes it over Frank's head as he's distracted. And she continues to do it again...again...and again...

Frank falls to one knee, spitting blood as he turns to Whitney, "UGH! YOU LITTLE B-", but then Whitney shuts him up.

"You talk to much.", Whitney said, dropping the tree branch. She then runs to Lincoln, seeing if he's okay...

"Lincoln, are you okay?"

"I'm fine.", he answers. Then he sees what Whitney did to Frank. "So, you worked him over?"

"Yep. He had it coming.", Whitney tells him. "Come on. Let's go."

* * *

Back to where Cherry was, she was waiting to hear some feedback from the two other mobs. Heading back to her warehouse, she soon found herself running into Frank's mob, who looked pretty beat. Some more than others...

"What happened to you guys?", she asked them.

"We almost had them.", one of the thugs spoke. "But then, they ended fighting back-"

"Making you guys look like chumps.", she interrupted. "What do I pay you for?"

"You barely pay us.", said another goon.

"Well, that might explain the way you look.", she said, having them burned.

"Hmph. We almost had the kid, in case you wanted to know.", said a goon. "But he just ended up disappearing."

That confused Cherry, but also made her angry as she grabs the goon by the collar, points a blade to his head and says "People. Don't. Just. Disappear!"

"They didn't disappear."

Just then, Kylie shows up, carrying Frank, who's was unconscious, and who's head was a bloody mess, over her shoulder. She throws him down to Cherry's feet, where he moaned in pain...

"They gave us the slip and did a number on him.", she explained. "There more clever than they look."

This was enough to make Cherry so mad, that she screams into the air, making the birds in the forest fly away and causing a tiny earthquake in the Himalayas. All the while this was happening, Lyberti, Rex, Parvana, Mazzy, Mollie, Renee, and Kat were listen on this; they covered their ears when Cherry screamed. They had followed Cherry's mob all the way to her hideout, and now, they pondered on what to do next.

"Okay, so we followed them all the way here.", said Kat. "Now what?

"I'll call Ronnie Anne and ask if she's got eyes on us.", said Mollie.

"I think we can take them.", said Mazzy. "Most of those guys looked pretty banged up."

"Yeah, but what about the rest?", asked Rex. "I think we in over our heads on this one."

"Well, we have to do something.", said Parvana.

"I'm not too sure about that.", said Lyberti. "We're not exactly armed for battle, and those guys seem pretty big to me."

"Well, maybe we can find a few weapons of theirs laying somewhere around here.", said Mollie.

"I don't think we have much time for that.", said Renee.

"Look, if anybody had any real idea on what we're gonna do, now would be the time to speak up!", Kat spoke out, growing impatient.

"Would you keep your voice down?!", said Mollie. "You screaming is not helping!"

"Alright then. Mollie, call some of the others and tell them to come over here.", said Mazzy. "We'll just sit tight and wait up for them."

"Yeah...That's not gonna happen."

Hearing an unfamiliar voice made everyone of them freeze as they slowly turn their head to see a couple of thugs tower over them. With that, the goons start beating them up, as they desperately try to fight back. But, it was all in vain as they were soon dragged and thrown at Cherry's feet as she stood with her hands at her hips...

"Well, how about that.", Cherry said. "Uninvited guest."

* * *

Back to where Lori and Carol were running to, they were beginning to witness some of the trees and bushes looked like they've been scorched. As they continued to walk, they were shocked to see what remained of a bunch of police and thugs who looked to have been blown up. One officer who was at their feet and seemed to have been still completely intact was Jones, who was beginning to regain consciousness, seeing the silhouettes of Lori and Carol above him...

"Oh my gosh.", said Carol.

"So much for the police.", said Lori, taking out her phone.

"What are you doing?", Carol asked.

"I'm calling Lincoln.", said Lori. "I'm gonna tell him that the plan was a bust."

"Yeah, I might as well do the same.", said Carol, as she takes out her own phone. "I'll call the others back at the club."

"Wait."

They looked down to see that Jones had regained consciousness, holding up he hand...

"Let me see your phone.", he says to Lori, who respectfully agrees to give it to him. He begins to dial a number and waits while the phone rings...

"What are you doing?", Lori asked.

"Calling for backup.", Jones answered. "My radio broke...Ah, but the service here sucks. This might take a while."

"Yeah, I'm getting the same thing here.", said Carol.

Then Lori spoke out, saying, "Ugh. Why are we even bothering?"

"What do you mean?", asked Carol.

"Our plan literally went up in smoke!", said Lori. "Cherry's goons busted through the cops!"

"Hey!", said Jones.

"We were forced to separate, and now look where that got us! Why do we keep trying to fight?"

"Look around, Lori!", screamed Carol, spreading her arms. "This! This is why we're still fighting! As far as I know, Carry is gonna keep hunting us down until the last man, and until she gets your brother! Why she still wants him is anyone's guess, but it all comes down to her being insane! But we can still beat her!"

"I'm on her side, little lady.", said Jones. "Willis is just to dangerous to leave running around."

"Yeah, but it's literally not gonna end the way you think!", said Lori, pointing at all the wreckage around. "This! Is literally how it'll end!"

"Well, if you got any better ideas, we're all ears at the moment.", said Carol.

Lori was about to saying something else, but then thought it over. Carol and Jones did have a point, and they were practically on the point of no return. This all had to end one way or another...

"Ah, screw it.", said Lori. "Let's go stop that psycho."

* * *

"Guys, I got some bad news.", said Ronnie Anne, back at the club. "Carol has told me that the police were wiped out.

"How the heck could that even happen?", said Sam.

"Beats me, but we're running low on options here.", Ronnie Anne.

"...Would giving up be considered and option?", said Shannon, having everyone glare at her. "I'm just saying."

G. Jordan then tells her, "Look, if you wanna give up and go home now, that's fine, go for it. But I'm not giving up!"

"Neither am I!", said Ronnie Anne. "That psycho's got to pay for messing with my friends!"

"I'm staying as well.", said Sam.

"Hey!"

Coming out of the back room was Fiona and Carlota, who looked pretty revitalized now.

"Count us in too!", Fiona said.

"We're not going anywhere.", said Carlota.

"Okay, okay.", Shannon said. "I'm not going anywhere either. Sorry."

"It's okay.", said Ronnie Anne. "We get it. We just need to find some way to help."

Just then, the door of the club open and two familiar silhouettes are seen...

"So...where's our little bro?"

Ronnie Anne and the others were shocked to see that it was Lincoln's sisters, Luna and Leni were at the door. And they were not exactly looking happy to see them...

"Well?", said Luna. "Spill it. Where is Lincoln?"

"He's...not here right now.", said Ronnie Anne. "...How'd you guy's find this place?"

"We found it a while ago while looking for Lincoln.", said Leni.

Then Luna goes, "First time, it was locked. Second time, you guys claimed that Lincoln wasn't here. Third time, we know that isn't true. Now, where is he?"

"He really isn't here right now.", said Shannon.

"Then tell me where he is!", said Luna, sounding a little ticked.

"He...", Carlota began, before being stopped by Fiona.

"We can't tell them!", she said.

Carlota replied, "Well, we gotta tell them something!"

"Just spill it already!", said Luna.

"Sorry Luna.", said Sam. "We just can't. It's for your own good and for Lincoln's."

"I can't believe you were in on this too, Sam.", Luna said, upset. "I would feel betrayed if I wasn't making myself clear! Where. Is. Lincoln?!"

"Alright!", said Carlota. The others attempted to stop her, but she made it clear that the charred had to end. "Lincoln and a few others went off into the woods to deal with the Psycho Girl that's been terrorizing us and wants your brother for himself."

Luna and Leni fell silent after hearing that, going wide-eyed and letting what Carlota sink in for a second.

"Leni...", Luna spoke. "Stay here with everyone. I'm going after them."

Leni, tried to say something, "But, Luna-"

"Just stay! I can handle this!", yelled Luna before she points over to the others. "You better pray that nothing's happened to my littler brother!"

Then she runs off and leaves Leni behind in the club. And as she did, Fiona and Ronnie Anne took the opportunity to turn their attention towards Carlota, who they now weren't happy with at the moment...

"Why did you have to tell her that?!", asked Fiona.

"I couldn't keep it a secret anymore!", said Carlota. "She deserves to know the truth about Lincoln and to be there for him."

"Oh? And what's to stop her from getting hurt while she's out there?", said Ronnie Anne. "It's like war zone!"

Carlota replied, "And what's to stop Lincoln from getting hurt? He's still out there right now!"

"That's not the point!", said Fiona.

"And how exactly am I the bad guy here?", asked Carlota. "I thought what I did was right!"

"Guys, give her a break.", said Sam. "At this point, there was no reason to keep it a secret anymore."

"We kept it a secret so that we can protect Lincoln and his family!", argued Fiona.

"Has it even worked though?", Sam asked. "Lincoln ends up getting kidnapped and getting himself into a mess that is not too far from this place!"

"But we didn't need to get his family involved!", said Ronnie Anne.

"They got themselves involved.", said Carlota. "And you even helped!"

Ronnie Anne went, "What?! How would have I even-?"

"Who told them about this place?", asked Carlota, leaving Ronnie Anne speechless.

"Oh, that doesn't matter!", Fiona said. "She wasn't perfectly clear! Unlike you, blabber mouth!"

"You wanna go right now?!", asked Carlota. "Keep talking and the last thing you'll see is my rear end coming at you!"

That made everyone except Fiona feel disgusted. Fiona was still just pissed...

"Like I'm suppose to be afraid of your big ass?!", Fiona yelled at Carlota. "I oughta punch your teeth out!"

"Go for it then!", Carlota said as the two girls got into each other faces. But Leni, who was watching the whole thing, had just about enough of this and decides to break it up.

"Both of you better stop it before I smack some sense into both of you!", she yells out, raising her hand, indicating that she really would smack them.

"None of this fighting is getting us anywhere.", said Shannon. "Please...just stop."

Then both girls went...

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine!", they both said in sync as they walked away from each other. Then Sam comes over to Leni.

"That was pretty bold, Leni.", she tells her. "Didn't think you had it in you."

"Yeah. Sometimes I even surprise myself.", said Leni.

"So, you think Luna will be safe out there?", Sam asks Leni.

"I'm hoping so.", said Leni. "She'd do anything for Lincoln."


	23. Chapter 23: Out of the Frying Pan

Through the woods, Whitney and Lincoln continued to go...somewhere. They didn't exactly where they were going. but they that it was a way from any goons wanting to get them. But then, they soon heard some noise coming near them, footsteps. They both feared that it was another goon coming for them, but they couldn't be so sure, not yet. Huddling up next to some trees, they waited and waited, hearing the footsteps come closer and closer. And soon enough, they confront the mysterious person with Lincoln grabbing them by the shirt and and Whitney was about to punch their lights out. But they soon paused as it they realized they grabbed onto Greg, and Dana was there with a chain in hand, looking ready to beat them up. But they all paused they second they saw and recognized each other. A few seconds later, Dana took a breath of relief...

"I nearly knocked you guys out.", said Dana.

"Yeah. Likewise.", said Whitney.

"It's good see that you're both okay.", said Lincoln.

"We're fine. But, you mind letting go of my hoodie?", asked Greg.

"Oh, right. Sorry.", said Lincoln, letting go.

"What happened to you guys?", asked Whitney.

"Ran into a little trouble. Got some new toys.", said Dana. "What about you?"

"Same here.", said Whitney. "Got a ripped dress."

"That sucks.", says Greg.

"Yeah, but I'm over it.", said Whitney.

It was then that they heard some more footsteps coming near them, and they tensed up, getting ready for a fight. But, they soon calmed down when they had then saw Lori and Carol and Jones, who was limping, coming towards them...

"Glad to see you guys are alright.", said Carol.

"Who's that guy?", asked Dana.

"Officer Jones.", the cop answered. "The cop you guys called to help take care of Cherry Willis."

"What happened to you?", asked Lincoln.

"Explosion. Plus a bat to the face.", said Jones, recognizing Lincoln's voice. "So you're the kid who brought us here, huh?"

Lincoln went, "Uh..."

"It's alright. I won't blame you for bringing us into this mess.", Jones said. "But things could've gone better."

"How'd things go for you guys?", asked Lori.

"It was okay.", said Dana.

"Could've been better for us.", said Whitney. "Now my dress is ripped."

"So's my hair.", said Carol, fiddling with her hair.

"Well, at least everyone's okay.", said Lincoln. "But what are we gonna do now?"

"Don't worry. I called in for some new backup.", said Jones. "But I'm gonna have to ask you kids to go home."

"What? Why?", said Lori.

"It's gotten too dangerous for you.", Jones explained.

"We've been holding our own well so far.", argued Lincoln.

"While in the forest, swarming with goons looking for you, kid.", said Jones.

"Oh, come on!", said Lori. "We all just agreed that we were gonna keep going on with this until Cherry's been dealt with."

"You would still decide to endanger the life of your brother?", asked Jones.

"Hey, I can still fight!", Lincoln defended. "You! You have a bad leg right now. How are you gonna fight?"

"I have to.", said Jones. "I have to see this thing through. It's my job."

"Well, it's also ours as well.", said Carol. "This affects all of us."

Seeing how these kids were not gonna budge, Jones felt like he had no other choice but to let them help...

"Alright.", Jones caved. "But you all better be careful."

"Not a problem.", said Lori. "Now, we might need a little more help."

"Well, it's not like it's just gonna come out of nowhere.", said Greg.

Just then, everyone's attention turned towards a goon getting kicked onto a tree. And then suddenly, Luna appears and begins to beat the crud of the goon, leaving him with a bloody face unconscious. She then turned to the group and froze when she saw Lincoln among them...

"Oh my gosh.", she said. "Lincoln..."

Wasting no time, she ran towards her little brother and scooped him up in a big hug, very happy to see him. Lincoln, on the other hand was just surprised.

"Luna!", he said. "What are you doing here?!"

"Me? What are you doing here?!", Luna asked. "Come on! I'm taking you home right now!"

"I can't go right now, Luna!", said Lincoln. "Not now. There's still some work to do."

"You mean the fact that there's a psycho chick after you right now?", she then asked.

"How do you know about that?", Carol asked.

"That doesn't matter.", Luna said, before turning her attention towards. "And Lori, I can't believe you were foolish enough to let Lincoln go into a war zone!"

"And since when do you get to act like your his mother?", asked Lori.

"I'm his guardian.", said Luna. "It's what I do!"

"Luna...", said Lincoln. "I can't. Not now. We need to put a stop to this. We need to stop Cherry."

"Lincoln, this doesn't have to be your fight.", said Luna.

"It's been my fight since day one.", Lincoln said. "I'm not backing down."

Luna gave that a little bit of thought before saying, "...Alright. Count me in as well."

"Seriously?", Lincoln asked.

"You guys need all the help you can get.", Luna said. "And I can fight ugly."

"I'm pretty sure she's not gonna back down." said Lori.

"Alright then.", Carol said. "You're in."

"Thanks.", Luna said. "Now, are we gonna do this or what?"

"Yeah.", said Lincoln. "It's time we put an end to this."

* * *

Meanwhile, at Cherry's hideout, she's got Mazzy, Lyberti, Parvana, Rex, Mollie, Renee and Kat on their knees and at gunpoint as she readies herself to interrogate them...

"So...you people have the spine to track me all the way here.", Cherry says. "Violating my space and territory, forcing me to waste my time on you chumps when all I want is the kid!"

"You will never get your filthy hands on Lincoln!", Parvana spoke out, only to be met with a slap to the face.

"You've tested my patience...force my hand and now had made me decide to use drastic measures.", Cherry said. "This doesn't have to go any further. Not unless you tell me...what I want."

"Not gonna happen." said Kat, who was then given the same treatment as Parvana and was slapped across.

"Okay...", said Cherry. "Let's keep this nice and easy...Where...is...Lincoln?"

"We'll never talk!"

"You'll get nothing from us!"

"You better leave him alone!"

"You won't find him!"

"I'm not saying anything!"

"Neither am I!"

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

That was what each and everyone of them said right before Cherry takes off her glove, licks her palm, takes a few steps back and then begins giving them one long slap across their faces. It stung, badly, leaving a mark across their faces...

"I got plenty of time on my hands.", Cherry said, putting her glove back on. "I got no problem doing things the hard way."

"You're never going to get him.", said Mazzy. "He'll take you down."

"Uh-huh.", said Cherry. "I've heard it all before."

"What do you even want with him anyway?", asked Parvana.

"Why does everyone keep asking that?", Cherry asked herself. "Alright then, might as well tell you. I just see a little bit of myself in him."

"Then you really are crazy.", interrupted Mollie. "Lincoln's nothing like you."

Slapping Mollie across the face once again, Cherry said, "Oh, on the contrary. We're so different, he and I. We've both had it rough, dealt with...disrespectful families, people, places. We're both at the brink of insanity. He just needs a little push."

"What the heck are you talking about?", asked Renee.

"I'm planning on hurting him, or killing him.", said Cherry. "I just want him. I want to mold him in my image, make him see things my way. He's young, has a lot learn. I wanna fill his little head with the knowledge he really needs in life. I know he'll be able to survive better if he does."

"So, you're just planning on taking him under your wing?", asked Rex.

"Yep. That's right.", said Cherry.

"Like that's ever gonna happen!", yelled Mazzy, before receiving another slap. "...And what are you even gonna do with us if you get Lincoln?"

"Hmph. That's a good question.", Cherry said. "...Maybe, I'll just slowly brake your minds until you're all fit enough to be nothing more than slaves to those who would pay for a good servants."

"What?! That's crazy!", said Kat.

"Never stopped me before.", Cherry said, turning her back on them. They all start the panic, as the thought of being turned to slaves sunk in and they began to beg Cherry not to go through with this. But, the goons holding them at gunpoint shut them by hitting them with the back end of their guns. They fell to the ground, they lifted their heads to see Cherry...

"Please...don't do this.", Lyberti asked weakly.

"Deal with it.", Cherry said. "Because there's no way I'm stopping."

* * *

To where Lincoln's group was, they were moving through the forest in search of Cherry's Hideout. It wasn't long before they found it, and had found their friend beaten up and on their knees. They saw how they were dragged inside by Cherry's army...

"Man, that Cherry girl did a number on them.", said Luna.

"She's gonna pay for this.", said Lori.

"We need to get our friends out of there first.", said Lincoln. "We just need to find a way around all those goons."

"Too bad we don't have some sort of distraction.", said Dana.

Just then, coming out of nowhere, a giant fireball forced them to scatter as it was heading straight for Cherry's Hideout, forcing her and the others to jump out of the way. The fireball ended up blasting away the doors of her warehouse, and that pissed her off...

"Who is responsible for this?!", she yells out.

"It came from somewhere north of here!", one of her goons said, pointing to a trail of ashes...

"I'll be right back.", Cherry then says.

And with that, she runs off, taking her spear with her. This gave Lincoln's group the opportunity to make it towards the warehouse and find out where their friends are at. And as they were heading in, the could what sounded like Cherry beating up a few of her own goons and yelling psychotically...

"That sounds like it hurts.", said Whitney.

"I would expect it to.", said Greg. "Cherry's the last person you would want to piss off."

"Nevermind that.", said Lori. "Let's just go in, get the others and get out."

Without anything else said, they start to head in. Looking around, they keep an eye out for any guards. They did spot a few, but did their best to avoid any unwanted attention. As well as take out any that was standing in their way. After a few minutes, they found their friends sitting in cages, who were now looking gleeful to see that help has arrived...

"We didn't think you guys would come for us.", said Lyberti.

"We didn't think that this would even happen!", said Lincoln.

Then Lori asks, "How'd you guys even get yourself into this mess?"

"Well, after hearing some of the feed back we received back at the club, we thought it best to go on and help you guys out."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time.", said Mazzy. "But we ended up getting locked up."

"Nice to see you, Mazzy.", said Luna.

"You too, Luna.", Mazzy said back. "But can you let us out of here?"

"Right.", said Carol. "How are we gonna do that?"

"Yeah, I don't see any doors for these cells." said Lori.

"Well, we're not sure.", said Shannon. "They knocked us out and put us in here."

"Wait a minute.", said Lincoln as he took a few steps back. From his point of view, he got a good look at the cells and realized...

"You guys do realize that you fit through the bars, right?"

The captives were a little confused before they let what Lincoln said sink in. They all then turn to their side and wiggle through the bars. They all felt a little dumbfounded as their rescuers started to hold in their laughter...

"Let's never speak about this again.", said Kat.

"Okay. Now let's get out of here.", said Lori.

And then they backtrack to the way to came in. Soon enough, they found themselves leaving the warehouse, only to be surrounded by armed thugs. And then, Cherry shows up, dragging behind her several unconscious goons with her. She had a smirk on her face as she faces the group...

"I am impressed!", she said. "You took that little distraction of mine to your advantage and made it through my place to get your friends back. Nice job!"

"Out of our way, freak!", yelled Lori. "We're leaving this place now!"

"Just because a dog gets out of its cage doesn't mean it's going for a walk!", said Cherry. "We're gonna have so much fun together."

"Yeah...that's not gonna happen.", said Lincoln. "Head back inside!"

"After them!", said Cherry. "And bring me the boy!"

Soon enough, they ended up getting chased back inside by Cherry's thugs. Acting quickly, they quickly hide inside a dark hallway, which the thugs ignore and move forward. As they continued to hide, they see that right outside the hallway were some more thugs spreading out and searching the area. They were very close to being found out...

"I'm gonna scream!", said Rex, as he was about to do so until Lyberti covered his mouth.

"How are we gonna get out of this?", asked Lyberti.

"We're gonna have to fight our way out of here.", said Lincoln. "But it's not gonna be easy."

Luna replied, "Nothing ever is, little bro. But we make it easy."

"They might be easier to take on we split up.", said Carol. "Just not to far from each other. We still need to stick together."

"Good idea.", said Lincoln. "Okay, I'll go with-"

But before he could finish, a flashlight was pointed at his direction and they realized they've been discovered.

"Scratch that!", said Lincoln. "We gotta move! Now!"

And so, they all ran deeper into the dark hallway with thugs chasing after them. They would've easily gotten lost if it weren't for what little dim light that old lamps had to offer. But, they couldn't keep running forever. Lori finds herself with Whitney, running through the hall when they find that there was a guard in front of them, although looking away...

"Just one guy.", said Whitney. "We can take him, right?"

Then Lori picks up a lead pipe, saying, "Let's not stick around to find out."

Then, she takes the pipe in her hand and strikes the thug on the head, which did the job, making him fall down. Lori and Whitney felt relieved for a moment, but the feeling was soon gone as they soon saw more thugs coming towards them...and they decided to make a break for it. All the while, Lincoln was with Carol, Mollie and Renee, running through a cross road until Lincoln managed to spot what looked like a breaker box and started to have an idea...

"Hey, wait!", said Lincoln. "I got an idea. We could shut off the power using this!"

"Are you sure?", asked Mollie.

"Of course.", said Lincoln. "Just about every kind of building has one of these."

"Do you even know how to do that?", asked Carol.

"Well, there's no better time to figure it out.", said Lincoln, as he opens it up.

He begins to flip a few switches, but they don't seem to be doing anything. It was hard to tell which ones he needed to flip, since none of them were marked...

"How about this one?", said Mollie, flipping another switch.

Meanwhile, a thug who was watching TV got mad when the TV began to show nothing but static.

"Or this one?", said Carol, continuing to flip a switch.

Somewhere in the armory room, a few thugs were getting more weapons when the lights went off and one of them slipped and a gun he was holding went off.

"This might take a while.", said Lincoln.

"Well, we don't have that kind of time.", said Renee, holding a rock. "Now stand back!

The three of them could only turn their heads for a second before they were forced to move out of the way as Renee threw a rock at the breaker box. This caused the thing to sputter with electricity and then burst, along with ever electrical device in the warehouse. This caused the whole place to go black inside, as Lincoln, Carol and Mollie picked themselves up...

"Well, that works, I guess." said Lincoln.

"Next time, give us a better warning!", said Mollie. "You almost knocked my head off!"

"Heh. Sorry.", said Renee.

The entire place had gone dark, or so it seems. For a few thugs were coming their way, a few of them holding flashlights. But that wasn't gonna stop them as Lincoln told them to follow his lead...even of that seemed difficult at the moment. But as the thugs were coming towards the breaker box, seeing how it was no good to try and fix it, they were were to move until they saw one of the lights go out...

"Hey, where's Boogey?"

"I don't know."

And then another one of their lights went out.

"What the heck? I'm getting out of here!"

But he didn't. Last thing that was heard was a sudden gasp before his light went out as well. Meanwhile, Cherry was waiting for her men to come and drag the others back out to her. But it seems as if they were doing nothing but testing her patience as she was pounding her foot to the ground and keeping her spear close...

"Ugh, this is taking too long.", said Cherry. "You want someone done right well, you gotta do it yourself."

Pulling out something convenient, it was a pair of night vision goggles that she placed on her head as she headed into the darkness of her own hideout.

* * *

Luna was walking through the dark halls, her head moving here and there, unsure of which way to go. She soon enters a room dimly lit by hole in the ceiling, showing off a bit of sunlight outside. From the looks of things, the room was particularly empty, other than a table with an old electric guitar that seemed broken, but Luna failed to notice the dark silhouettes on the opposite side of the room. Soon, Luna reacted when something was thrown near her, shattering to pieces as it was revealed to be a glass bottle. She then turns her head over to the opposite end of them room, seeing who she's dealing with, Kylie and Taylor...

"Have a drink, Loud.", said Taylor. "Can't have one of the kid's annoying little siblings running around, now, can we?"

"You seem to know me, but I don't know you.", said Luna, watching as Kylie appeared behind Taylor.

"Just know us as the last two people you'll ever see.", she said, holding up her katana. "We would both want to take you down, but I wouldn't want to deprive my baby sister of the opportunity to watch you suffer."

"Not gonna happen.", said Luna. "Sorry to disappoint."

"Play nice, Taylor.", Kylie whispered into her sister's ear. "Do make her suffer."

"Love to.", said Taylor, bringing out her spiked bat.

And with that, Kylie to her leave, using a rope that hoisted her up into a hole in the ceiling, leaving her sister to take care of Luna, who was backing away right about now...

"Okay. Uh...", Luna said, looking around for a weapon, remembering the guitar on the table. "Yes."

Grabbing the guitar, she has it resting over her shoulder, gripping the small with her hands like a bat or an axe...

"Let's do this.", she said, seeing the smirk on Taylor's face.

Taylor raises her bat and then charges at Luna with the rocker doing the same and they begin to swing at each other. Luna's swings were slower than Taylor, having the more heavier weapon, but Taylor was just moving around her ever so swiftly, getting more hits than Luna. Luna considered that she was mostly just getting scratched by the nails, and not being stabbed. But she waited for her chance to strike, gripping he guitar firmly and letting it swing. She managed to hit Taylor on the right side of her face. Luna sighed in relief as she saw Taylor fall to the ground, looking out cold. She was about to leave the room, until she heard Taylor groaning, turning back to see her rise up and see that the right side of Taylor's face was now soaked in blood...

"Grr...Round Two.", she said, holding up her bat."

Letting out a heavy sigh, Luna was about to swing her guitar again, only for Taylor to grab the bloody body of it and smash it against the wall...

"Ah, crud.", said Luna, beginning to back way from Taylor, who was looking at her with murderous intent.

Acting quickly, Luna does her best to dodge an upcoming wave of attacks, only taking a few cuts, but she was ready to end this. She lets Taylor swing the bat once more, dodging quickly as it hits a wooden post. Taylor grew angry as she couldn't be able to get it out. But then, Luna kicked her and made her fall to the ground, seeing her blood stain some of the ground. But Taylor soon got back up, wiping some blood from her face...

"Fine then. Fist.", Taylor said, taking off her jacket. "You know, I wouldn't mind keeping you around. I like a feisty little pet. It's enjoyable whipping them to shape."

"Man, shut the heck up.", Luna said, tightening her fist.

And then both girls ran at each other, their fist aiming at each other's faces.

* * *

Somewhere else in the warehouse, Mazzy was holding onto Kat's hand as the two girls were running for their lives. As such, they could barely seeing anything running through the dark halls, but there was noises and movement all around them. They soon enter a rather large room that was kept up by brick columns. It was almost like a maze if it weren't for the darkness. And Mazzy had a bit of a feeling like they weren't alone in this place. Her suspicion was proven right when they heard some more footsteps coming their way. They turned their heads and saw Frank standing in front of them, holding a machine gun in his hands and an axe holstered on his back.

"I'm a little disappointed that I only found two of you.", he said coldly. "But it'll have to do."

"I remember you.", Mazzy said. "I still owe you from last time."

"Hmm? Oh yeah.", Frank said. "You went down easy. Should've finished the job then and there. But this will have to do for now."

"Kat...", said Mazzy.

Kat answered, "Yeah."

"Run."

And with that, both girls ran away from the Frank as he was firing wildly at them. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get out of the room, they were stuck in there with Frank, seeing him lock the door...

"Come out, come out. Wherever you are.", Frank said crazily.

"We need to go through him.", whispered Mazzy.

"How are we gonna fight back?", Kat asked.

Looking around, Mazzy saw a pistol on the floor and went for it. Quickly hiding near a wall, she gets a look at the gun...

"Please be loaded."

Taking out the clip, there were eight bullets left. Mazzy sighed, knowing that she had to make every shot count. Quickly, she moved out of the way as Frank came at her with an axe in one hand and his gun on the other, swinging at Mazzy's head and getting the axe stuck in the column. Mazzy ran as bullets whizzed pass her head...

"You won't get away from me!", Frank yelled out, trying to fire some more, only to run out of ammo.

"Here it goes.", Mazzy said, taking her gun at aiming at Frank. Unfortunately, the bullet flew past his head as he was reloading. And thus, she was forced to hide some more as Frank reloaded and started to fire some more...

"This reminds me of a video game Sully showed me as a kid.", she said to herself.

All the while, Kat was running around the room, trying not to be seen or shot. She was wondering how she got herself into this, and how she was gonna get herself out. But as she continued to run, taking a sharp turn, she yelped in pain as she felt her hair get stuck onto something...

"Ow!", she said, pulling at her hair. "Are you freaking kidding me."

Little does she know that Frank had heard her and was now coming her way.

"Why does this have to happen right now?",She said, continuing to pull at her hair, wanting it to stay in one piece and not end up like Dana's ponytail. Soon enough she got it, and it was gonna keep running until she ran into someone behind. For a moment, she thought this was it, she was dead. But looking up, she saw that it was Dana and Greg, who were now here.

"Kat! Are you okay?!", asked Dana.

"Yeah, I'm fine.", she answered. "How'd you guys get in here?"

Dana replied, "Chopped our way through.", holding up an axe and showing that they chopped through the door.

"Nice work.", Kat complimented. "Hey, did you do something with your hair?"

Seeing how Kat realized that her hair was now at a stub made Dana feel a peeved, and Greg gave Kat the "cut it out" signal, which Kat understood.

"Nevermind.", Kat said.

"Good.", said Dana. "Now, come on. Let's get outta here before-"

"I don't think so!"

Frank's voice echoed as he showed his empty head and started firing on the three, who scattered away from him. He was right up on Greg, who had accidentally falling to the ground, now beginning to crawl away from him. But as Frank was about to fire again, Greg grabs a large piece of scrap metal and raises it up, using it as a makeshift shield as it seemed sufficient enough to repel most of the bullets coming at him...

"You won't hold out for long!", said Frank.

Behind him, Dana was raising her axe, ready to strike Frank. But under all the gunfire, Frank could hear someone was behind and stopped firing and turned his attention towards Dana. Before he could do anything, Dana took her axe and she ends up chopping the gun in half, ticking off Frank.

"I just got that thing!", he says as he takes out his own axe.

And with that, Frank starts swinging crazily, not giving Dana enough time to swing back as she backs away from him and blocks a few moves with her own axe, the blades hitting each other but Frank also ends hitting the handle, which begins to weaken as Dana is barely able to recover from each attack. One strong blow after another, Dana was backed up against a wall as Frank lifted his own axe over his head and swings it down, managing to break the handle of Dana's axe, which made her fall to her knees as she was about to meet her end...

"You're not too bad.", said Frank. "Oh well."

But before he could finish it, a shot was heard and the axe ends up slipping from his fingers. Dana was left frozen as Frank fell backwards and right behind him was Mazzy, holding the pistol in her hands...

"Well...that's the end of that.", Mazzy said coldly.

Dana quickly got up to her feet as Mazzy was walking over to her and they both hugged, happy to see that both of them were okay. Not only that, Kat and Greg joined in to, feeling relieved that they didn't have to deal with Greg anymore.

"Let's get out of here.", Mazzy ordered, and they soon booked it. But as they were leaving, they failed to notice that Frank's limp body was still moving, and he soon reopened his eyes...


	24. Chapter 24: Into the Fire

Back to where Taylor and Luna were fighting, they were relentlessly throwing punches at each other, grabbing at each other and not giving up so easily. But Luna was a bit of her league, as Taylor was a far better fighter, having the rocker in a headlock and kneeing her in the stomach. Pretty soon, Luna feel easy. But she still mustard as much strength as she could to stand up...

"You're out of debt, sweetie.", Taylor said, towering over Luna.

Luna looked above Taylor and saw a hole on the ceiling. Her eyes went wide as she saw something coming and made a break for it. Taylor for a moment until she heard the walls break behind her, and it was enough to get her running as well...

"Son of a-GAAAAHH!"

Luna didn't look back to see Taylor's fate, but she assumed it wasn't pretty. Not able to stop, she had no idea where to go but straight as the falling debris was getting closer to her head. But as she continued, she saw a door at the end of the hall, and decided that was her best bet. Lunging forward, Luna burst through the doors as the rocks were soon closing in. She found herself outside as she saw a section of the warehouse she was just in complete collapse. As the smoke cleared, she saw that across from her position, some goons had fired a catapult at the warehouse. They soon ran away after the damage was done...

"Dummies...guess I should thank them though.", Luna said to herself, as she looks at what remains of the warehouse. "I'm hoping everyone's alright."

She then begins looking for a new way back inside.

* * *

To where Lori and Whitney were at, they were continuing to move through the dark halls. Dodging a few spotlights and trying to find a way out of here. And as they did so, Whitney could see that Lori was looking a little bit down, and wondered what was on her mind.

"You okay, Lori?", said Whitney. "You're looking a little upset."

"Oh, I'm just worried about everybody.", Lori answered. "I'm hoping their okay. I wouldn't want to miss my chance to make amends with them."

Confused, Whitney asked, "Amends? For what?"

"With Carol, for her hair.", Lori answered. "It got stuck and ripped on a tree branch while we were running from Cherry's thugs."

"I'm pretty sure that was not your fault.", Whitney tells her. "You shouldn't have to worry, Lori. You got nothing to apologize for."

Lori began to think about that...

"Besides, I have problems with my hair than others.", Whitney said, putting her hand through her hair. "It's massive and it gets in the way of a lot of stuff."

Both of them began to feel the ground begin to shake. It grew to be a little excessive, hearing what sounded like building was falling down. When it had soon stopped, both girls looked at each other for a second before heading over to see what that was. They saw that it came from a door, and they opened to see that it led to what remained of one part of the warehouse...

"What the heck happened here?", asked Lori.

"I don't know.", said Whitney. "But seeing as how this technically now leads outside, shouldn't we use it to escape?"

"Maybe.", said Lori. "But, what are we gonna do about that?"

She points to a bloody hand hanging outside a pile of rubber, which made the girls begin to feel terrified...

"So...my sister is dead."

The two of them froze as they head an unfamiliar voice behind. They turned around to see Kylie, who was not looking the least bit happy, gripping onto a katana blade...

"Well...she may be reunited with her boyfriend...But, I...will never be whole again...NEVER."

Lori spoke out, saying, "It's not like we killed her."

"Oh, I know.", Kylie said. "But, I gotta blow off steam somehow."

Then, coming from out of the shadows was a whole bunch of goons, which made the girls back up outside...

"Kill them both.", Kylie ordered.

As the thugs begin to close around Lori and Whitney, Lori felt something poking her foot and looks to feel a spiked back next to it. A smirk grows on her face as she quickly grabs onto the bat and swings it towards the thugs, breaking into a fight. Whitney had felt someone grab her by the hair and pulls her back. She sees someone trying to attack, but she quickly kicks them away.

"Watch the hair, you punk!", she screamed.

Kylie merely walked around and watched the fight, mourning over her sister. She rather did enjoy her thugs getting worked over by two girls who never really had to fight before. It gave her some satisfaction, but she knew that she eventually had to pitch in. As both girls, kept on fighting, Whitney's hair kept getting in the way as she repeatedly had comb it out of her face. And if it wasn't that, it was another thug getting the chance to pull it. Lori saw where this was going, and decided to help out.

"Hair tie?", she asks, holding one up.

"Yeah.", Whitney says, taking the tie and her hair and begins to tie it around her head while kicking away another thug. But as she was finishing up, one thug comes at her and punches her in the face. That was enough to push her off her edge...

"Big. Mistake!", she said, taking something from under her dress which just so happened to be a tennis racket. "Now, I'm gonna teach all of you a lesson!"

"Whitney, where the heck did you get that racket?", Lori asked.

To which Whitney replied, "It appears when I'm angry!"

And with that, she charges the rest of the thugs, knocking them down with one blow of her racket. She was smacking them, on pairs of cheeks as she worked everyone of them over. By the time there was one guy left standing, she took her racket and hit him over the head with the net, making it go through and getting him stuck. Seeing how she couldn't get it loose, she decides to take the racket and pull it over her shoulder, throwing the thug along with it. And with that, both girls turned their attention towards Kylie, who was still sitting, looking a little surprised at what she just saw. A few of her still barely conscious thugs came up behind, looking like they still wanted to fight, but could barely stand on their own feet...

"Well...", she began to say. "Like my daddy used to say before divorcing my mom...you want something done right you gotta do it yourself."

Lori and Whitney looked at each other with confusion before looking back at Kylie, who had a sword in one hand, and something else in the other, but she was hiding it...

"He also said-"

Throwing the other thing to the ground, both girls' vision was blocked by a huge cloud of smoke. As soon as it began to dissipate, Lori and Whitney saw that Kylie and her thugs were gone and there was something written on the ground. It said "Later". This left both of the girls unamused...

"How is that they all of this ninja stuff, but we can't afford anything?", Lori asked angrily.

"I know. So unfair.", Whitney agreed. "But at least we can catch a break. Let's go meet up with the others."

Letting out a sigh, Lori said, "Right."

* * *

To where Lyberti and Rex were, like everyone else, they continue to walk blindly through the halls. These two were not meant for fighting, constantly running away from any sort of scary noise coming from any corner. As they were catching their breath, they heard footsteps coming from around the corner and Rex was about to book it again, but Lyberti stopped him.

"Rex, we can't keep running forever!", she told him.

"What would you want to do? Fight back?", Rex argued. "Let's just keep moving and pray that others get out as well.",

"No Rex! We can't leave them. And we'll have to fight back. One way are another!"

She then looks around and sees an old fire extinguisher. Picking it up, she waits for the footsteps to come closer. And as she was about to attack, letting out a road, she soon stopped as she was looking at one of her friends, Parvana. She stopped herself from hurting her, but couldn't stop Parvana from falling out of shock...

"Oh my gosh! Parvana, I am so sorry!", she then says.

"It's okay!", Parvana said. "I almost did the same."

"What happened to you?", asked Rex. "You just seemed to have disappeared."

"Yeah, everybody did.", Parvana answered. "I didn't know where I was going."

"Well, the least we can do now is find everyone else and get out of here.", Lyberti said.

"I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon."

All three of them turned their heads over to someone coming out from around another corner. It was Frank, still alive but looking terrible. Blood was dripping from his mouth as he as being carried by a fat goon.

"It's you.", Lyberti said. "You're not looking too well."

"Yeah, I just took a bullet to the spine.", he tells them. "But other than that, I'm feeling just dandy."

"You're in no condition to fight us.", said Rex.

"Maybe not me...", Frank said, while patting the big guy on the back. "But he is."

The Fat guy had a shaved head, a stretched grey tank top, green cargo shorts, red shoes and black wrist bands.

"Ted, take care of these guys.", Frank order. "Don't let them escape. I'll sit this one out."

Laying Frank on the ground, Ted turned his attention towards the three pacifists.

"Sorry, kiddos.", he said in a thick voice. "Nothing personal."

"At least this guy has some manners." Lyberti said before throwing the fire extinguisher at him. But the thing just seemed to bounce straight off him, making Lyberti a little scare as she and the others run the other way. Ted gave chase, showing that he was surprisingly fast, while Frank stayed behind and chuckled weakly. But he soon stops when he sees someone towering over him. Cherry.

"Look at you.", she said. "Look at what you've done to yourself."

"I'd say I look pretty good from a perspective.", Frank said back.

"Quite the waste of space that you are.", Cherry told him. "What am I gonna do with you?"

Frank replied, "Well, a hand would be nice."

Then, Cherry motions over a few goons, all female...

"Take care of this fool.", she orders of them. "And find those fools and bring them to me."

The female goons silently nod their heads as one of them stands beside Frank while the other goes to meet up with Ted. And with that, Cherry makes her leave, allowing Frank to enjoy the company she left behind for him. Back to the three, they chased inside another room with Ted right outside. They soon realize that they have gotten themselves trapped, as there was no place out and Ted spots them. One of the female goons soon catches up with him...

"There's just three of them.", he tells her. "I'll handle this."

He then squeezes through the door side first and enters the room.

"What are we gonna do?", asked Rex.

"Not much we can do.", said Parvana, clutching her fist. "But I'm going for it."

"What?", Lyberti asked, shocked. "Parvana, no!"

Running towards the fatman, Parvana jumps and stretches out her foots, ready to kick Ted back. But her attack merely bounced off his fat tummy. As she fell to the ground, Ted looked at her, unamused.

Parvana laughs awkwardly, "Well, it was worth a shot."

"Too bad.", said Ted, suddenly grabbing her.

Lyberti and Rex scarcely watch as Parvana was thrown across the room and lands on the wall with a splat. They cringe at her pain...

"Ouch.", Lyberti said.

"That had to hurt.", said Rex.

Ted faces the female thug, saying "We got them cornered. Report back to Cherry, tell her that they're hers for the taken."

The female silently rides as she looks for a way to get to Cherry quickly. Seeing a hole in the ceiling, big enough for her to fit through, she takes a rope and attaches it to the top...

"You know the door's an option, right?", said Ted, having the goon glare at him as she climbs to the top.

Another female comes by and motions for Ted to go up the rope, which confuses him. He looks up, and can tell that he'll not be able to fit...

"Uh, I'll stay down here.", he says. "Someone has to keep an eye on them."

The female shakes her head and once again motions him upward...

"You can't be serious."

Then, without warning, the female takes the rope and ties it around Ted's waste then tugs on the rope. Suddenly, Ted is hoisted up in the air, but like he suspected, he can't fit through the hole. He was twice its size and couldn't fit, as the females are barely able to get him through. He tries to squeeze through, but is stuck rather tightly...

"Nice going, geniuses!", he complains. "I told you, I wouldn't fit! It's too small."

"Well, maybe if you didn't eat all those ribs, this could've been easier!", said the female thug pulling him.

Lyberti, Rex and Parvana saw this as their chance to escape, as they rush for the doorway, pushing the female guard unconscious as they run past her. Unfortunately, Frank and the goon with him saw them running, and Frank orders her to chase after them...

"Idiots.", he says to himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, in one of the largest areas in the warehouse, Lincoln, Carol, Renee and Mollie find themselves under a bright lamp, allowing themselves to rest after fighting their way here. They were mostly beaten up, having messed up hair and bits and pieces of their clothing ripped off. Lincoln and Carol having scratches on their faces, Renee had a bruise on her right cheek and Mollie had a black eye. They took the moment they had to catch their breath...

"Well, this has been fun.", said Renee.

To which Mollie added, "Yeah. Why not do this every year?"

"To much fun.", said Lincoln. "More than I can handle."

"I'm hoping everyone's okay.", said Carol. "But at least, we don't have to deal with anymore surprises right now."

"Hey!"

Just then, someone was coming from the shadows, and the four people acted fast, ready for combat. Fortunately, it was Luna coming into light, which made them calm down...

"Nice to see you guys are alright.", she said to them. "We will not believe what I've just been through."

She got a better look at them, she saw how beaten up they were...

"Oh, you too, huh?"

"Yep.", they all said together.

"Well, it could be worse.", Luna told them, right before someone else was coming into the light. It happened to have been Lori and Whitney, who were not looking very happy. And like before, everyone was startled by them suddenly showing up.

"Relax. It's just us.", Lori said, sounding a bit peeved.

"Good to see you guys again.", Whitney said.

"Likewise.", Lincoln spoke up. "I see you tied your hair."

"Had to.", Whitney said. "It kept getting in the way."

"You two sound mad.", Carol pointed out. "What happened?"

Lori answered, "We were this close to dealing with one of Cherry's top nutjobs, when she decides to act like a ninja and vanish."

"Well, that's just great.", Mollie said sarcastically. "We've just been busy fighting for our lives."

"I'm hoping everyone else can show up.", said Renee.

"Be specific.", said Lori. "We don't need any unexpected guest around."

And, for the third time, some others were coming into light and startled everybody. This time, it was Mazzy, Kat, Dana and Greg. They were looking just as beaten up as everyone else here...

"Hey.", Mazzy said. "Glad to see you're all okay."

"Where have you been?", asked Whitney.

"Fighting.", answered Dana.

"What took you so long?", asked Lori, angrily.

Mazzy pulled out the pistol she shot Frank with, saying, "Things got a little hairy."

Everyone was more frightened the second Mazzy pulled out the pistol. Seeing this, Kat quickly tries to pull Mazzy's arm down.

"Put it down.", she said. "Put it...down."

Quickly putting her hand down, Mazzy said, "Sorry."

It was then that everyone began to hear some running coming their way. Lyberti, Rex and Parvana were still running away from the female goon chasing them. But that goon ended up tripping over her feet, allowing them to escape. As soon as they saw their friends, they were getting overjoyed, but had forgotten to stop and ended up bumping into Mazzy's group. Lyberti bumps into Mazzy, Rex with Greg and Parvana with Dana. This caused all of them to fall down and for Mazzy to accidentally fire the gun at the headlight, taking it out. Now they were all left in darkness, again...

"Great.", said Lori. "Just great."

"Now we have no way to see.", said Carol.

"There goes the working light.", said Whitney.

"Oh, on the contrary."

Suddenly, with the flick of a switch and some buzzing, all the lights had suddenly turned back on again. The group had then came to a realization that they were suddenly surrounded, by all the goons they previously beaten up before, and Cherry.

"Hello, little doggies.", Cherry said to them. "Time for your walk."

The group formed a circle as Cherry's little army surrounded them.

"Get ready, everyone.", said Lincoln. "This'll be the fight of our lives."

"You don't have to tell us twice.", Lori said.

Everyone waited for someone to make the first move. The clock was ticking, and soon...the fight broke out. One of the goons made the first attack, only to be kicked away by Lori's foot. Everyone was fighting through the horde of thugs, and the group was powering on through. They managed to grab a few of the thugs' own weapons, the three younger girls grabbing onto some the thugs and beating them. And meanwhile, a few others got themselves with stuck with the greater threats. Lori was dealing with Ted, Luna was dealing Kylie and Lincoln...was dealing with Cherry.

Right now, Lori had her hands full with the big guy. She gulped, seeing as how he towers over him and despite being fat, he was still pretty strong. Just as his right hook...

"Okay...", Lori said, struggling to recover that punch. "That one hurt."

"Come on, Lamb Chop!", Ted yelled out at Lori. He was bouncing around like a boxer, motioning for Lori to come at him...

"You want it?", Lori said, looking angry. She soon tries to punch his gut, only for her fist to go bouncing off his belly...

"Oh, that one felt good.", Ted said, making Lori as she kept on trying to hurt him. "Hey, guess what?"

Lori looked up and saw Ted's fist coming at her chin. That upper cut made her fall back down to the ground. Her anger was starting to boil as she felt Ted grab her, lift her up and was about headbutt her. Seeing how that was coming, Lori moves her elbow in front of her, which hits Ted's pudgy face. It was enough to make him dazed, and allows Lori to get a little payback...

"Let's see how you like it!", Lori said, grabbing Ted from his shirt. Suddenly, she ends up lifting him over her head and then throws him into a couple of thugs scurrying around. With that, Lori cleans the dust of her hands and continues on fighting some more thugs. Meanwhile, Luna had her hands full with Kylie, wasn't anything like her sister. She was quicker, smarter and more flexible. This left Luna unmatched as she took a kick to the stomach...

"I'm gonna treat you the way you treated my sister, and crush you like a nut!", she yelled out.

Breathing heavily, Luna let out, "Let's not make this a habit."

Just as she about to land another attack on Luna, Kylie ends up getting kicked in the face by Sam, making her tumble, but quickly recover. But then, it shows a bloody gnash where Sam had kicked her...

"I got you, Luna.", said Sam.

"Too against one.", Luna said. "Now you're outnumbered."

"You're still outmatched.", said Kylie.

Kylie was...right. Even together, was she able to counter almost everyone of their attack. She may have taken a few hits hear and there, but it was nothing she couldn't handle, she was still standing. As another kick from Sam was coming at her, Kylie grabs the punk girl's foot and launches her at Luna, making them both fall down...

"Give me regards to my sister.", said Kylie, pulling out a knife. But before she could finish them both off, someone smashed her from behind with a chair. Luna and Carol were shocked to see it was Whitney, who was breathing heavily...

"Dang, girl!", Luna said. "A bit over the top, don't you think?"

"Don't start with me.", Whitney said. "It's been a long day. Got my dress ruined, my hair pulled..."

"Still...a chair? Really?", Sam asked.

To which Whitney replied, "At least I'm not the one with a gun!"

"I heard that!", Mazzy said while hitting someone with the back end of her pistol.

But it wasn't enough. Kylie got back on her feet like it was nothing, other than there was blood running down her face. Spitting out some of the blood, she confronted the three girls again...

"I'll fall a thousand times before I let you win!", she screamed out.

"Man. This girl just doesn't give up. Does she?", Sam said, holding up her fist.

"Shut up and fight!"

Things seemed to have gotten surprisingly easier for Luna and Sam, as the hit from the chair was enough to leave Kylie dazed. They were soon starting to overpower her, making her angry...

"You piece of s**t!"

"Language, you giant prick!", Luna said, as she and Luna were about to land the finishing blow. Together, they landed a double uppercut on Kylie, seeing her off the ground and plummeting back down. That finished, as she was knocked out cold by the attack. Now that they were finished here, they moved on to the rest of the thugs.

Meanwhile, Mazzy was fighting back several thugs on her own with only an empty gun that she's forced to use as Melee weapon. But soon, one of the thugs grabs her by the throat and pushes her against the wall. Struggling to break out of the grasp, Mazzy spots Rex hiding in a corner, quivering...

"A little help?", she calls out. This forces Rex to look around the floor, in search of anything useful. He finds a lighter and tosses it over to Mazzy. Skillfully catching the light, Mazzy lights it and points it at the thug holding her, who unfortunately for him, had a beard. After she was free from the goons grasp, she picked a new weapon, a sledgehammer, but then looks over at Rex, who was still shaking in fear...

"Rex, buddy, We gotta help us out!", she says to him.

"I don't know if I can.", Rex says. "I'm just too scared."

"Ah, come on!", she tells him. "Just think of it as a scene from a movie. Just...real."

"Okay...", Rex agreed, still feeling unsure.

"Alright then!", Mazzy said right before heading back into battle.

As Rex found himself alone again, a thug spots him and was coming for him. Rex saw that this was where he was supposed to start fighting, so he raised up his fist and was gonna do his best. The thug starts throwing punches, to which Rex quickly dodges and punches back, hitting the thug. That was enough to get his confidence going as he kept dodging and punching, no damage and all direct hits...

"Ha, ha!", Rex laughs triumphantly as he rapidly punches the thug and knocking him out. He then spots a crowbar on the ground and more thugs coming his way. With a smirk on his face, he grabs the crowbar, steps forwards and starts to whack some heads. As he and Mazzy were fighting back goons one at a time, they saw that Lyberti and Parvana were having some trouble. Parvana only had a wooden plank to defend herself, which was breaking easily as she hits goons upside the head with it. And Lyberti had a bludgeon, a mace like weapon which she was having trouble wielding, Considering how heavy it was. As they were getting overrun by more thugs, Mazzy and Rez intervened, taking on half of goons...

"We got your back.", said Mazzy, hitting a thug in the stomach, making him fall to the floor and throw up.

"Appreciate it, guys!", Lyberti as she was trying to swing her weapon. "Man, this thing is heavy."

Seeing how Lyberti had the better weapon and that she was down to a splinter of the plank she was using, Parvana grew irritated, grabbing the Bludgeon from Lyberti, saying "Oh, give me that!" She seemed to be wielding it better than her friend hitting thugs left and right and swinging the weapon as if it were just a tree branch. It may have been the adrenaline pumping, since she then dropped the Bludgeon and then starts taking off her hijab. Seeing another thug coming in, she takes her hijab and wraps around the thug's head and begins using all her strength to swing the poor guys body and throw him over to some other goons...

"Dang, girl!", Mazzy said, surprised by Parvana's performance.

"Nice hair.", Rex said.

Combing some hair out of her face, Parvana said, "Thank you."

And at last, on the second floor, Lincoln and Cherry were dashing it out in a duel. Lincoln had managed to find himself a Chinese Han Sword to defend himself as he was going up against Cherry with her naginata spear. Never before did he think that he would be in a fight such as this, as he continuously backed up from Cherry's upcoming attacks. Some attacks he couldn't dodge, forcing him to retreat, only for Cherry to repeatedly catch up with him...

"Consider yourself lucky that you had found that sword.", Cherry said. "One of those idiots down there left it where it was. Right for the taking."

"I don't care.", Lincoln talked back to her. "I'm taking you down."

Laughing hysterically, Cherry said, "I like to see it!"

The blades continued to clash, but Cherry was far stronger than Lincoln, forcing him to back against a wall as their weapons gritted together...

"Now we're getting somewhere.", Cherry said.

Pushing her away, Lincoln swung his sword, saying, "The heck's wrong with you?!"

As they continued to fight, Lincoln's arm was growing tired and his grip was wearing out on the sword. Seeing this, Cherry took it as an opportunity to knock the sword out of Lincoln's hands and make it fall to the first floor. As that happened, Lincoln felt Cherry's foot on his chest push him to the ground...

"Now...pretty soon...you'll be all mine.", Cherry said with a smile.

As Lincoln slowly crawled away from the psychotic girl, Cherry had failed to notice that someone was climbing up the latter behind her. It was Carol, and she retrieved Lincoln's sword, holding it with teeth as she climbed the latter. Lincoln saw as Carol gave him a wink as she was about to slash Cherry. But Cherry noticed that Lincoln's eyes had moved and now new that someone was behind her. She quickly anticipated Carol's move, nearly taking her head off with the swing of her naginata...

"But you didn't see this coming, huh?", Carol asked Cherry.

"I tend to keep my eyes peeled.", said Cherry.

Their fight didn't last too long. Carol had just as much luck as Lincoln had, but she could keep up with how Cherry was spinning her naginata around. Eventually, Carol couldn't keep the blade up anymore and saw Cherry leap on top of her, taking the edge of her naginata and begins choke Carol with it...

"You won't be missed.", Cherry said menacingly.

"Get offa her!", screamed Lincoln, lunging at Cherry.

The white-haired boy grabs onto the crazy girl, locking her in a sleeper hold and starts to punch her in the face as she tries to pull him off. This gives Carol enough time to recover as she gets back up on her feet and charges at Cherry, beginning to land some punches in her stomach...

"Had enough yet?", asked Carol.

Cherry answered, "Not quite." She starts leaning back wards and falls right on top of Lincoln in the means of weakening him. Getting back up with Lincoln still wrapped around her, Cherry kicks back Carol and then manages to pry off Lincoln, suddenly throwing him at Carol and making the two fall backwards onto the floor. Cherry cracks her neck while staring down at the two...

"Well, this has been fun, but I'm really getting tired of all this.", she said to them both. "So, let's make this quick, huh?"

Then, feeling someone behind her tap on her shoulder, Cherry turns around, only to see a fist coming at her face. It was Lori, and she was looking just as tired of this mess as Cherry was. Quickly recovering, Cherry charges at Lori and they both start throwing punches at each other. They soon lock fist and push at each other, trying to overpower the other...

"I'll agree with what you just said.", Lori told Cherry. "Let's make this quick."

Growling angrily, Cherry headbutts Lori which makes her begin to lose her balance.

"Felt that through your stupid thick hair and skull?", Cherry mocked.

"Excuse me?!", Lori said, feeling irritated. "What? Running out of insults?"

Cherry growled saying, "Shut up!"

It was then that Cherry suddenly kicks Lori in the shins, knees her in the stomach, making the poor girl drop to her knees so that Cherry could sucker punch her in the face, making her fall down. Cherry manages to get on top of her and begins slamming her fist against the left side of Lori's face. Enduring through the brutal punishment, Lori then grabs hold of Cherry's fist with sudden regained strength and does something unexpected. She breaks Cherry's finger with ease. Cherry howled in pain, getting off of Lori as she tends to her finger. Lori opportunity to kick Cherry down as she did. Lori takes a stance while Cherry resets the bone of her finger and growls angrily.

"Why do you guys always get the upper hand?", she asks angrily. "It just isn't fair!"

"Deal with it.", Lori says. "At this point, I'm considered the good guy."

Frustrated, Cherry charges at Lori, who then does that same. Inches away from each other, Lori lunges at Cherry and grabs hold of her, making the too fall from the second and land back on the first. Lori heard what sounded like a crack coming from Cherry's chest. Considering she used her to break her fall, she could only suspect that she may have cracked Cherry's ribs.

"Ow! Get off!", Cherry yelled out!

Lori quickly got back up on her feet, as did Cherry, but was holding onto her side now. They both could see that Cherry's army was now defeated, seeing them all in a stacked pile, which ticked Cherry off...

"You need to lose some weight, fatty!", Cherry yelled at Lori.

"Excuse me?!", Lori said.

"You heard me!", said Cherry. "Whatever you been eating, do yourself a favor and lay it off!"

Looking at her sides, Lori couldn't help but think that Cherry might have been right. She has been stress eating for a while, before she had reunited with her brother. For the three days, it's been mostly meat. So far, she's eating a gourmet stake, a triple bacon cheeseburger with fries and soda, and some goulash her father made. It did hit the spot though, as she was practically shoving it in her mouth at that time. Having been reminded of how much she's eating, Lori could feel a tiny bit of flab in her shirt, which made her blush. But she pushed the embarrassment down, facing Cherry again...

"I'll work out the extra pounds later.", Lori said. "But, at least I can make myself look decent."

"You act like I care about that.", growled Cherry.

It was then that everyone of the group started to surround Cherry, none of them looking too happy as she is...

"Now would be the best time for you to surrender.", Lori told Cherry.

To which, Cherry asked, "After everything, you think I'm just gonna give up so easily?"

Then, Carol and Lincoln dropped back down to the lower level, with Lincoln saying, "That'd be the wise thing to do."

"You know, Lincoln...I'm really not gonna enjoy breaking you in.", said Cherry, picking up a dirty sword from the ground. "Not while your worthless friends are still breathing."

"Tough luck, Cherry.", said Lincoln. "I think it's about time we wrap things up."

Suddenly, Luna kicks the weapons out of Cherry's hand and Sam attacks her from behind. They both punch her rapidly before they ended getting their fist grabbed, with Cherry pulling them together and kicking them away. Mazzy and Parvana came up next, swinging their weapons, to which Cherry skillfully dodges and kicks their weapons away, and them as well. Last ones were Renee, Mollie and Kat, who only leaped and grabbed onto Cherry, who was trying to pry them off of her. But this gave everyone a chance to dogpile her. They ganged up on her and began to give her a brutal beatdown. Despite that, Lori and the others who weren't fighting could tell that Cherry was still resisting, struggling under all the fists...

"You know, for a girl who just had her rib cracked, she sure is relentless.". Lori said.

"No kidding.", said Carol, before turning to Lincoln. "That was really brave what you did back there."

Lincoln smiles at Carol, saying "Thanks. You as well."

"Hmm... shouldn't the police have shown up by now?"

"Yeah.", agreed Lincoln. "What is taking so long?"

And it was then, by impeccable timing, the a squadron of police were now coming into the warehouse. The saw what was going and it took a few cops to pull them away from Cherry, who was on all four after that beat down, looking like she could barely keep herself up.

"It's over, Willis.", Officer Jones said, holding a gun at her head.

She was now covered in bruises, and the sound of her voice was breaking as what looked like tears were beginning to come down from her eyes...

"Is she... crying?", said Lori.

"She's in pain.", Greg said. "If I were to take a guess... I'd say she never wanted this."

It was then that Greg walked towards Cherry. A few of the others tried to stop him, but he pushed them aside as he knelt down beside Cherry and slowly wrapped her arms around her. She flinched as she did so, looking around at all that she has done, like she was waking up from a nightmare. Then she turned her head towards her old friend...

"...Greg?", she said.

"It's okay, Cherry.", he tells her. "Everything... everything's gonna be okay."

* * *

A little while later, police were rounding up all the thugs that were under Cherry's rule, loading some of them into police trucks, the rest into ambulances...some with body bags. Cherry was the last to go, having her own personal car with Jones, and the group watched as they drove away. They were offered a ride back home, but they said that they could handle it from here. Despite everything they've gone through, they felt like everything was gonna be just fine.

"Man, that was a nightmare.", said Dana.

"No kidding.", said Lori. "I think I'll literally go to sleep for a week."

"Sam here.", said Carol, before she turned her head towards Greg, who was still looking at the police car rolling away. "You okay, Greg?"

He replied, "I'll be fine. This is...what's best everyone."

"So now what?", asked Kat. "Now that the big adventure's over?"

It was then that Lincoln started to walk down the path that lead back to Royal Woods..

"Lincoln?", said Parvana.

"Where you going?", asked Renee.

He then turns back towards them, saying, "I got somewhere to be."

Everyone looked with concern, especially Lori and Luna, who decide to follow their little brother.


	25. Chapter 25: Home at Last, Finale

Back at the Loud House, Rita and Lynn Sr. we're busy with cooking dinner and making a few calls. Rita was on the phone for a while, calling anybody around Royal Woods who she and Mr. Loud trusted to tell the truth about knowing something about her son's whereabouts. So far, any 'leads' they had went dry almost instantly. And at top of all that, no more of their kids had gone missing, as Lori, Leni and Luna were no where to be found since this morning. They felt like this was starting to get ridiculous, and they just wanted their children back. But before the could lose themselves in thought, there was a knock on the door...

"I wonder who that can be?", said Lynn Sr.

"Don't know. Don't care.", said Rita, almost sounding dead.

"Oh, come on, honey. Please try to lighten up a little.", her husband tells her."

"Lynn, half of the kids are missing.", Rita said while walking to the front door. "I just want some good news right now!"

And as she opened the door, her 'good news' was standing in front of her. Rita was speechless to see that Lori, Leni, Luna were now standing in front of her, looking and feeling awkward.

"Heeeeeey, Mom.", they all said in sync.

"And where have you girls been?", their mother said, sounding displeased.

Lori replied, "We just needed to get you something."

To which, all three girls stepped aside to reveal Lincoln. The sight of her son made Rita's eyes widened, surprised to see him once more.

"Hey, mom.", Lincoln said. "I'm home."

Cupping her hands together and covering her mouth, Rita fought back tears as she saw that her son was right in front of her once more. Without any warning, she had suddenly embraced Lincoln, pulling him into a hug, feeling so happy to see him again...

"Lincoln...", she said with a breaking voice. "You're finally back home."

"Yeah...", replied Lincoln, sounding almost sad. "...I know that I owe you a huge apology."

Breaking the hug, Rita said, "Yes...why did you have to scare us like that? Why didn't you ever say anything?!"

"Running away just...seemed like a good idea.", said Lincoln. "I just couldn't stay in the house."

"Part of it is my fault.", said Lori. "I helped drive him away by siding against him during the accident."

"And none of us were really there when he really need him.", said Luna.

"We're really sorry for what happened.", said Leni.

"It's okay.", Rita said.

"It's literally not though.", said Lori. "We drove our brother away."

"Yeah? Well, what else is new?", said Lincoln, turning to the audience and giving them a wink. Then he turns back to his sisters, saying, "I already forgave you guys."

Feeling happy to hear that, Lincoln's three older sisters decided to join in on the hugging, happy that their family was whole again. But Rita broke the hug once more, realizing how dirty and unkept her kids clothes were, except Leni.

"Good gosh, what have been you into?", she asked then.

Lori, Luna and Lincoln made some nervous laughter, with Lincoln saying, "It's a, uh, long story."

And with that, the siblings revealed to their mother a few of their friends who helped along with the way. Carol, being one of them, stepped forward and presented herself, feeling as awkward as the siblings did...

"I think I can help explain.", she says nervously.

Soon enough, the found themselves in the dining room while Dana was busy with Chaz, who decided to tag along, pulling him through the door after he got stuck...again. They were busy explaining to Rita has happened for the past few days...

"...And after we found out that Cherry was looking for him, we decided to take Lincoln into our care until the threat settled down.", Carol explained.

Rita felt happy, knowing that some people were looking after her boy. "That was very nice of all of you to pitch in on."

"Of course, it didn't last too long.", said Whitney, "Not after someone managed to get Lincoln captured.", she turned to Shannon glaring at her.

"I already said that I was sorry!", Shannon shouted. "It was an honest mistake."

"Don't worry, Shannon. I don't hold it against you.", Lincoln said happily.

"Thank you, Lincoln.", Shannon said, grateful to him.

Rita then asked, "So, what happened next?"

"Well...", Carol started, right before being cut off by Dana's struggling.

"I could use a little help over here!", yelled Dana.

Coming down the stairs was Lynn, who then saw Dana struggling with Chaz...

"You're doing it wrong!", she tells her.

"How would you know?", Dana asks her.

Lynn steps forward, grabbing hold of Chaz, saying, "Allow me to show you."

And with that, they both start to pull until Chaz pops right through the door...landing on both of them..

"I think I've had just about enough of this!", Dana says angrily.

"You and me both.", Lynn replies.

As she got back on her feet, Lynn saw that her brother was back. The two stared at each other before Lynn suddenly lunges and catches her brother in a surprise hug...

"Whoa! Lynn!", said Lincoln.

Lynn interrupted, saying, "Lincoln, I'm sorry! I really am!"

Breaking the hug, Lincoln tells her, "Lynn, I'm sorry. Sorry for lashing out at you, and for running away. I know you didn't mean what you said before! I just...I needed to get away."

"I understand.", said Lynn. "But I should be apologizing. I guess I'm kinda like a burden to you sometimes."

"You're not a burden, Lynn.", said Lincoln. "You maybe crazy sometimes, but...that doesn't mean I don't love you any less."

Lynn was fighting back a few tears as she embraced her brother once more.

"It's good to have you back, bro.", she tells him.

Everyone was pretty surprised to see how well the reunion between the two went. Leni and Luna were very much happy to see that it's all worked out between, while Carol, Whitney, Dana, Jackie, and Parvana were more shocked than anyone. As they broke the hug, Lincoln could see that Lynn's face was healing up nicely. Then again, that punch happened a few days ago, so it made sense.

It was then that Lincoln felt something stuck to his leg and he looked down to see his little sister, Lily clinging to him. She was giggling happy to see her brother was back, and was kind of refusing to let go at the moment...

"Nice to see you to, Lily.", Lincoln says happily.

And it was also then that the rest of the Loud sisters came down to see what all the commotion was. Like everyone else, they were surprised to see that their brother was back. Lincoln was continuing to feel awkward about all this at the moment...

"Hey, guys.", he said, sheepishly. "I'm back."

They didn't take too long to start dog piling their brother, hugging him and kissing him and feeling happy. Luan was the one mostly doing the kissing, while Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lisa were doing the hugging. Of course, that didn't go without them asking a few questions. Mostly "Where have you been?", "Why did you make us worry?", "What has he been up to?", and ironically "Do you have any idea what we've been through?" They've yet to realize what exactly he's been through...

"Alright, guys! Please calm down!", said Lincoln, getting his sisters to back off. "It's a long story. It all started like this..."

One hour later...

"And that's pretty much what happened.", said Lincoln.

Most of his sisters had their eyes widened by that story. They were not expecting Lincoln to have been hunted down by a psychotic girl and her entire army...

"That is some story.", Lola said, shocked.

"You went through all that?", asked Lynn.

"Pretty much.", answered Lincoln while looking at the group members. "Had a little help along the way."

"That is pretty hardcore.", said Lana.

"Thanks.", said Lincoln.

Luan then asked, "So what was this Cherry girl like? Only thing I know about her is that she set the school courtyard on fire once."

"She was...unhinged.", Lincoln answered. "She was shunned by everyone, kicked out of school because of her violent behavior, and those who tried to be nice to her, she pushed away. She drove herself crazy, considering she saw a bit of herself in me."

"Yeesh.", said Lana. "Must've been heavy for her."

"Well, we had her arrested, so we won't be seeing her again.", Lincoln said.

"Hey, Lincoln!", called out Chaz. "What are you gonna do, now that we've dealt with that Cherry girl?"

Lincoln replied, "Well, it was nice hanging with everyone who was protecting me. But, I didn't really go with everyone, did I?"

"So, what?", asked Lola. "Are you gonna just hang out with everyone now?"

"Pretty much.", said Lincoln.

"Cool if we join?", asked Ronnie Anne, who was with G. Jordan, Mollie,. Renee and Kat.

"I don't see why not.", Lincoln said with a smile on his face.

Before they left, however, Rita stops her son and gives him a hug...

"I'm happy to have you back, Lincoln.", Rita said with tears in her eyes. "Go have fun. You earned it."

And so, Lincoln took the time to hang out with the majority of friends he made. Without the threat of a psycho chick, Lincoln actually took the time to relax. He earned it, and was spending it with everybody. He started off with Sully, who took the liberty of teaching Lincoln and the girls how to play a few instruments. Lincoln with the lead guitar, Ronnie Anne with the Base, Renee with the Drums, G. Jordan with the violin, Mollie with the keyboard and Kat with the symbols. Not only could they not stand Kat's symbol playing, but Renee accidentally hit Ronnie Anne in the head while not paying attention. It took Lincoln and Sully to pry both girls off of each other. But still, it was pretty fun to watch.

Later on, they were with Mandee and Jackie at a sleepover. They were having a bit of a pillow fight, when Mandee accidentally hit a lamp that Jackie owned and breaks it. This causes Jackie to get all grumpy as Mandee tries to apologizes. Jackie puts on a mischievous smile and then throws a pillow at Mandee's face. Seeing this, Jackie then runs as she sees that Mandee is chasing her with a pillow. But this causes them to run into their guests and fall into a pile on their beds. They all share a good laugh until Lincoln asks them if they hear what sounds like sparking. They lift up their heads to see that a pillow had hit the electrical. This causes a flash outside their home, and inside, they place and the kids were scorched. That still was pretty funny, at least they thought so as they continued to laugh.

Next came Sam and Mazzy, who invited the gang to a Smooch concert. Lincoln and the girls were more than willing to tag along and they were having a blast. Lincoln even convinced Mazzy to have him be put on her shoulders for a better view. Ronnie Anne and the rest of the girls were enjoying a few snacks they managed to get along the way. Ronnie Anne had a taco, G. Jordan had some popcorn, Mollie had a breadstick, and Renee and Kat had some Doritos. They were having too much fun, some their snacks spilled to the ground and in their hair. Especially with Jordan, who felt butter and popcorn was all over her braid...

"That'll take weeks to wash out!", she said.

And while Lincoln was enjoying the view, he could see that his sister Luna was here, being carried by the audience. They managed to high five while up there and could agree that it was one of the best concerts of their lives.

Last people to hang out with were Lyberti and Rex, and it was...kinda boring at first. They were taken to a play, a very awful play about a girl who had her heart crushed by a football player she dated dumps her. It was so bad that Lincoln and the other girls was being bored to death, apart from Ronnie Anne, who had fallen asleep. But things were a little bit interesting when there was supposed to be a stage kiss, and...it didn't happen. Instead, it was a high five...

"You were supposed to kiss me.", said the actress.

"Yeah, not gonna happen.", said the actor. "You're lucky I gave you a high five."

One thing led to another, and the next thing the audience knew was that the actress was chasing the actor around the stage like a crazed maniac, trying to kiss out of him. This was surprising to the group, who half of which started to enjoy what they were saying...

"Ronnie Anne, wake up!", said Renee. "It's finally getting good!"

She woke up to see that the actress was trying to hit the actor, who was pinned to the ground, with a cactus. Lyberti and Rex were left in complete shock, as this was not what they were expecting. Neither was the prop flamethrower the actress tried to fry the actor with...Yeah, it was not one of the better plays they've seen. But, the ending kinda made up for it.

It was safe to say that Lincoln and his friends were all having the time of their lives. Everyone had a chance to enjoy it. Of course, it couldn't last, but it was enjoyable as Lincoln and his friends were at a sidewalk near his house, where he thanked everyone for a good time. Not just him, but the rest of his family...

"I'm glad to see that my boy is safe and sound.", Lynn Sr. said to everyone. "I hope you all had a good time as well."

"Best time that we had in a long while.", Ronnie Anne.

"Thank you, guys...", Lincoln said. "For everything."

"Of course, Lincoln.", Carol said on behalf of everyone. "We'll see you around okay."

Lincoln nodded happily as he saw everyone go about their separate ways and as his family went back inside.

"It's good to be home."

As he heads into his room, Luna and Luan felt at peace, knowing that everything could go back to normal now. Well, at least until they feel their phones vibrate and were surprised to see what had just been posted. It was enough to have them laughing hysterically, confusing Lincoln as he was getting ready for bed

"Hmm. Wonder what they're so happy about?", he says to himself.

His question was soon answered as he sees his phone vibrate at sees that someone reposted a picture of Lori's head in a rabbit hole. It happened to have been Whitney who posted it, as she had typed, "Some sister you got there, Lincoln." Lincoln was soon laughing and wiping away a few joyful tears after he saw the picture. But he soon stopped with something on his mind.

"I wonder how Lori is gonna react?"

Suddenly, he heard angry screaming from the opposite end of the hall, with Luna and Luan still laughing.

"Nice new look, Lori.", Luan said.

"Hey! I didn't know that my head would get stuck!", Lori shouted. "I blame the hole for being too small!"

"Sure, blame the hole.", Luna called out. "Just know that your big hair isn't supposed to fit everywhere."

"Shut up!", she said.

And then Luna said, "Her hair could make a great nest for a bird!"

"Or a soft bed for a bear to sleep in.", Luna remarked as the two girls shared a good laugh.

"A bear would be too big for her hair!", said Leni, peeping out of her room.

"Don't even go there, Leni!", Lori growled.

"I wouldn't say that.", said Luan. "I'd say it IS the size of a baby bear!"

Lori growled in frustration as she walked back to her room and Luna and Luan continued to laugh crazily. Lincoln laughed, having listened in as he settled down on his bed.

"All is as it should be.", he told himself as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"In prison, Cherry was sitting in a cell, completely motionless as she knew that she was gonna be in there for a long time. Things seemed bleak for her, that is, until she had gotten some unexpected news...

"Miss Willis, you have a visitor."

Cherry almost instantly shot up as the door to her cell was opened, and tears were forming in her eyes as she knew she was looking at an old friend...

"Greg..."

"...Hey, Cherry."

The two shared a hug, feeling comforted with one another in their arms.

"How you holding up?", he asks her.

"I'll live.", she tells him. "Funny. I kinda always knew I'd end up here one day."

Greg looks down, saying, "I can't visit you all the time...but I can try."

"Go live your life, Greg.", Cherry tells him, wiping away some tears. "This is what's best for both of us."

Nodding, impressed by how Cherry was maturing, Greg tell her, "Don't give up on me...I'll see you around."

And with that, they shared one last hug and Greg made his leave. It seemed like everyone managed to get a happy ending.


End file.
